5 comments about Mindpower Math Middle School (Grade 6-9).

1. When my mother got me this I was very excited. This game really helped me alot. That is a very big compliment because I'm terrible at math. You will not be dissapointed.

   P.S. It worked with my Toshiba Laptop and my mom's custom made computer(not a specific brand)




2. I bought this software because I love The Learning Company's (TLC)software. You won't believe the difficulties that I've gone through in installing this software in my new Computer (Windows ME). I have fixed the problem by going to the Macromedia website and downloaded "Macromedia Flash Player". Afterwards this software (Mind Power Math Middle School) run perfectly. My son enjoyed its delightful graphics and excellent mathematics presentation. It's worth all its troubles, it is just EXCELLENT!!



3. I brought this software for my six-grader. I always like the learning company's product but this one does not impress me at all. The graphic is primitive and the presentation is boring. There is no extra practice or test you can do. My son ran through all the CD's but he really does not enjoy it. I just brought Math Advantage 2004. I have problem running the problem on a computer with 1GB of memory. But I install it on another machine and it works. I like the presentation much better and my son seems to like it too. It has an examination area where you can test your understanding and a game area to make it more fun.



4. This package appears ideal: it covers a lot of Middle School math subjects, over 4 CDs. The problem is, the creators of this software (which runs very slowly in your web browser!) have been a little too cute -- instead of just presenting the material, they run you through these elaborate scenarios requiring that you keep track of an entire fictional situation, and in using this with kids, they lose interest immediately because they're expending far too much time and mental energy just trying to figure out either what the question is, or trying to whittle down the real math problem inside of some elaborate story. It's a huge time waster and is monumentally frustrating. For example, one such headache, the 'Estimating Quotients" lessons, revolve around a story about connecting the intercontinental railroad, measuring the railroad ties, space between, etc., etc., with lots of other information that confuses the child. This is the common theme. I run the software, and the kids can't figue out what the h&ll the question is!
   It might not be so bad if these 'mathematical problem scenarios' were used after the basics had been covered, but instead are the norm in presenting the material for the first time. The result is that the kids are totally lost and just don't get it.

   Also, this software takes an extraodinarilly long time to cover a miniscule amount of mathematics. They could have easily fit the entire course on one CD, with plenty of room to spare, had they simply covered the basics, instead of making everything a 'challenging problem, or game, or complicated scanario. I can see where they might have thought that this would make learning math enjoyable, but in practice the kids are lost half way through each lesson.




5. I'm a homeschooling mum and I bought this for my 9 year old son who loves math. It's an absolute dream! I had no problems whatsoever installing the program and my son was captivated from the start. The package is presented by a green alien by the name of Digit who is totally engaging and explains carefully everything your kid needs to know. The only problem I have with it is limiting my son to one lesson per day.
   
   The 4 cds are a whole course, designed to be worked through systematically. I would imagine it would get pretty confusing if you just dipped in at random as the lessons build on one another and rely on concepts and terminology introduced in earlier lessons. It is assumed that the player (student?) can add, subtract, multiply and divide competently. If you get stuck, you can click 'Show Me' and you are guided through a step by step breakdown of the current problem. If you make a mistake, a relevant explanation is usually given. After every lesson there are practice problems to work through, usually with a good 'real life' theme.
   
   The only drawback I've found is that the program is so good at teaching your kid mathematical terminology that they end up asking you awkward questions like 'Mum, do you know what the multiplicative inverse of 22 over 7 is?' at inopportune moments...

No comments about The Sudoku Challenge!.

4 comments about Trudy's Time and Place House Ages 3-6.

1. Once again Edmark keeps our kids happy with another outstanding product. I've seen kids from 3+ to 7 play this. Several different activities with both Q/A mode or explore mode keeps kids with varied levels of skills busy, entertained and learning. The games "grow" with the kids. Both educational and loads of fun, it's a must for all homes.

   We have enjoyed it so much, we continue to buy it for gifts.




2. This is our first Edmark product, but it won't be our last. This is a fine program with easy controls, a user-friendly interface, and fun educational activities. Kids can work on five tasks in one of two modes. For example, in Jellybean Hunt, your perspective is as an ant on a grid-patterned tablecloth. Jellybeans are scattered at various locations. In exploration mode, you can use arrows designated as relative directions (forward, left or right) or absolute directions (labelled N, S, E and W), to find jelly beans; in task mode, you are asked to get a particular jellybean using a specific arrow set.

   Other tasks include: (1) a world map that asks you to identify large land masses or bodies of water and take pictures of them (and clicking on specific places brings up pictures and facts about that place); (2) analog and digital time telling; (3) a scene with dials for seconds, minutes, hours, days and months -- when you click on a dial, the scene is sped up in those increments; (4) a proto-Sim City where kids can place design elements (towns, hills, rivers, roads, etc) on a grid that maps to a sandbox, where the elements take shape.

   These activities are well designed and educational as well as fun. As someone who has used Reader Rabbit, Jumpstart and many other children's software titles, I think this compares favorably, and heartily recommend it for your child. Very nice!




3. Although my daughter asks to play with this a lot (cute characters) she gets frustrated immediately with the navigation. Perhaps I'll hold on to it until she is 4+, but the material is too mature for her at 3 & 1/2.



4. bought it to work on macs. does not. please dont buy it if you have a mac.

3 comments about openSUSE Linux 10.2 (x86).

1. Worked as advertised. openSuse was a easy install and very user friendly for a first time linux user. I'm using this OS now to write this review. The online support community is very good, they have a great irc room on freenode that is very useful for having question answered as they pop up. The chat room in set up for default when you open up the chat client "Konversation" I gave it 4 stars as I have not tried all flavors of linux out there; (and there are a lot) but this is a good starting point if your looking for a good first experience with linux.



2. Recently I had the opportunity to try the Suse 10.3 Live Disk. Just to make sure I wasn't missing out on anything, I went ahead and installed it to the hard drive of a Lenovo Y410 where the Windows OS had gone south.
   
   As to the good points:
   
   Installation was a breeze. Put the disk in and tell it to install. Took about 20 minutes total, give or take.
   Slick interface. Really nice main page with bright colors and a minimum of fussiness. Probably one of the closest-to-Windows Linux distros out there.
   It quickly found wireless hotspots, although connecting was something of a hit or miss proposition (see below).
   Included library of applications is a rather hefty 3 GB and includes just about everything you could need.
   If you can't find an app you want, YAST will probably get it for you, although it has problems (again, see below).
   It's quicker than Windows once booted but is no quicker than Windows to boot.
   Mainly of the apps, like OpenOffice are merely free clones of equivalent Windows based programs. This is good because one interfaces with the other without too many problems. You even get a free clone of Adobe Acrobat which costs close to $400 for Windows.
   Virus problems? What virus problems? Very few are written for Linux so that worry is not something you have to fret over.
   Ditto for updates. Windows has probably sent me over 1 GB of updates for my Vista version. How many has Suse sent me? Zero, nada, zilch. If they do send you an update the green lizard in the corner (or is it a gecko?) turns colors and starts flashing until you say yes or no. Windows just downloads them without you knowing and I've had some Windows updates jam up my pc to the point I had to do a system recovery.
   
   Now for the bad:
   
   If you don't feel like paying Novell (the parent company that produces Suse) $59 for a disk set you'll have to download a 4.1 GB monster installation app. While this shouldn't be a problem, it quickly becomes one if you're using Internet Explorer (it cannot handle anything much over about 2 GB on a download). I installed Safari for Windows to handle the larger download. Once you download it, then you have to do an ISO burn which means you'd better have Nero or any of the free ISO burning apps.
   It offers to do an online check once the distro is loaded, but it apparently forgets that it hasn't configured your Internet connection yet. After it chokes on the online updating it then finds your Internet connection and attempts to configure it. Cart before the horse.
   Do you know the difference between a Gnome desktop and a KDE version? Apparently Suse assumes you do. They give you the option but don't tell you the difference (Gnome is the Windows-like version).
   The Firefox browser included is dreadfully slow because the DNS check has been enabled (supposed to offer greater security against phishing and bad websites, but it's awfully pokey). I had to do a quick Net check to find out how to disable the DNS (enter about:config in the URL area and scroll down and disable DNS).
   You can download a load of free apps if you desire, but you have to go through YAST, a computer management program. YAST insists on refreshing every time you bring it up, even if you just closed it a minute ago. Add enough repositories to YAST and it can take 5 minutes to refresh each one. Also, it insists on refreshing ALL of your repositories and the only way to speed up the process is to delete a couple of them. Guess what? You have to go through YAST to do that so you'll have to wait 5 minutes to get there! This is a needlessly long way of getting to what you need. In some cases, it actually jammed up my pc, especially if a repository was offline at the time.
   Once you do get to the repositories and available apps, some of the descriptions are bizarre and can be confusing. Want to upgrade you whooiz and whatchayoumaycallit? I don't know for sure, but you'll find something there along those lines. Be careful what you download, it may jam something up. In fact, I downloaded a program that was designed to blow off the hard drive to a zero state. Not exactly something you want to fool around with but the description didn't quite mention this.
   Typical of Linux, there is still no standard for sound cards. The Linux Standard Architecture would not recognize my Soundblaster card and I had a devil of time getting it to work. It worked once and never worked again. I just gave up.
   Unless you download a special app, you can forget playing DVDs. Due to copyright constraints it ain't happening anytime soon. Secondary apps do exist to play DVDs but there is no guarantee that they will work with Suse completely. Once I did get the DVD to work the playback was horribly choppy and erratic.
   Wireless, when it works, is great; however, it would offer drop a signal inside my house even though it was showing a 75% signal. No warning, it would just drop. One time it switched from my signal to a public signal nearby. While this doesn't bad, it's a signal that wouldn't allow certain programs to run (like the Linux Instant Messenger - Pidgin) because of restrictions. Again, no warning, it just jumped.
   
   While it may seem the bad points outweigh the good, it's a matter of perspective. Linux always has had some bug issues but so does Windows or Apple OS. Linux suffers because it's an free OS (most can be downloaded for free but they do charge to mail you disks) and the Big Boys don't like the Free Guy knocking on their doors.
   
   Fact is, Suse is a slick OS and probably second only, in my mind, to Mandriva 2008.



3. Good buy for the money. ($5 including shipping and handling) Unfortunately, they crammed what they can (on a single CD) which takes up 650MB. A decent Linux installation these days with all the bells and whistles will exceed 3GB. This means you have to download all your applications directly from the OpenSuse web site. This is certainly possible, but it is painfully slow. The YaST updater is very easy to use, but you have to use it a hundred times (at the cost of 5 minutes per pop, if you have very high speed broadband like I do. Double that for standard DSL. Using a modem? Don't even try.) The CD disk you get does not include even the basic stuff like gcc, gdb, make, RCS, or any tools. I was particularly ticked off by the fact that the installation did not even offer "tsch" as the login shell at the time the user accounts were created. This is because tsch was not part of the CD package. It is the most common shell used on UNIX, and the second most common on LINUX.
   
   I will gladly pay twice as much money, if the installation was on a DVD instead, and included all the standard packages. (And why not? They are available free of charge.) A single CD Linux installation days are long gone, this is the year 2008.
   
   On the OpenSuse Linux itself, I don't have much to say. I have been familiar with it for a long time, and I like it a lot. It comes with KDE by default, which is a good desktop. But there are better ones. Windows users may prefer Gnome. The power users may prefer Enlightenment. In either case, you will have to go through a painful switching process with downloads and adjusting the settings. The release 10.2 is approximately the same quality as others I have used before, with one exception. I could not make the wireless work on my laptop. (Fortunately, the ethernet port still works, otherwise I could not download anything.) YaST finds the wireless card and configures it (with my encription keys), but at the end it does not work. (There is nothing wrong with the wireless card or its configuration. When I boot my laptop to Windows, the wireless works perfectly well.)

No comments about Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (1-user license).

5 comments about American Girls Premiere Create and Produce Your Own Plays.

1. I have owned this game for eight years, and have been playing it continuously over that time period. The possibilities are endless -- the limitations grant the game its (unintentional) humor. I will agree with other reviewers in that, if this is just a game purchased to entertain a child in the form of recreating the books, it may get old. However, if you intend to be a bit more creative and use the limited cast for your own devious purposes, the fun starts.
   
   I see that many of you reviewers have complained about the text to speech. I respond with scorn! The humor lies in the monotonous delivery. Having Eddie Ryland flail about angrily and deliver a lifeless string of curses is irony at its finest. Having the pint-sized Brad speaking in "Male British English" at the lowest pitch (which is essentially a frog croak) will both shock and stun! When Jiggy Nye chases off pesky children with a robotic woman's voice, the laughter is hard to abate.
   
   And oh, the ways one can manipulate the characters! With some careful editing, you can have your characters fly, dance, and make passionate love (I recommend playing the "bicycle horn" sound effect during the lovemaking). Lots of laughter has originated from my attempts to have the players act naturally. Even better is the lack of props -- a snowglobe had to be substituted for my intended mug of beer.
   
   In short, if you enjoy corrupting a children's game, I highly recommend The American Girls Premiere. It's an incredibly versatile tool -- if you have enough imagination, you can continuously appreciate it.
   
   Oh, and Uncle Lars walks like a retard. Keep that in mind.



2. Sure the graphics are horrible, but this game is hilarious. It's really old, and it sometimes it doesn't work, but a lot of the time it brings a smile on my face and to my friends. I agree that this software is more fun when used to create your own plays. The boring normal American Girl stories are lame. Ones that you can come up with are probably more funny to you.
   
   As for the robotic voices, I use a microphone and record my voice. Now let me tell you, I'm great at making funny voices, especially for these types of plays. I recommend this game so much. It's endless what you can do if you just think up of some stupid story.



3. Some of the above reviews have missed the true beauty of American Girls Premeire. Yes, you can use computer-generated voices but the program also allows you to record your own voices. Different people can record the voices of the different characters. It's an awesome way for kids to experiment with their "voice acting" abilities.
   
   I'm a multimedia developer myself but this program still amazes me even though it's now been around for many years. My daughters had a blast playing with these "virtual puppets" when they were young. In fact, my youngest daughter just got a laptop computer for her high school graduation and so we pulled out the old American Premiere CDs and she's having a ball with the program all over again. I can here her laughing as I write this.
   
   By the way, much to my surprise, even though this program was created in the Windows 98 era, it's running beautifully on my daughter's Vista computer! Wonderful software for girls who enjoy making up their own stories or plays and a wonderful way for them dip their toes into the world of animation!



4. This is the single greatest computer game ever. I recieved it when I was in 5th grade...and now I'm in college and I still look back fondly on it. I'm only now realizing the impact it has had on me creatively. I have a firm understanding of story structure, staging, and character development and interaction, all because of the stupid little joke plays I used to make on American Girls Premiere! It really is both fun and educational--even if you just play around with it, like I did. Some of my friends' and my greatest inside jokes come from this game--we still love to relive the hilarious dialogue and sound effects we made up ten years ago! Every young girl should have this computer game, I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!



5. This game is difficult to figure out. For the company's target range eight years and up need a simpler format to follow. It would've been nice for the characters to show step by step instructions.

5 comments about The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain.

1. Dr. Brain holds a special place in my... well, brain._Castle_, _Island_, and _Lost Mind_ of Dr. Brain present puzzles toyou, Dr. Brain's assistant, under several different bizzare premises - in this one, the great Doctor has accidentally exchanged brains with his lab rat, and you must set things right.

   These games are stocked with the best variety of puzzles ever seen, covering algebra, classical music, art history, scientific measurement, logical sequence, jigsaw puzzles, engineering, language skills, and so much more. What's even better, these games can be played over and over again, at varying levels of difficulty. As usual with Havis Interactive, the actual age level for this game extends above and beyond what's printed on the box. This is a game worth getting, because a young child can keep playing it through many years. If only they sold the whole series! _Castle_, the oldest, is by far the best... END




2. This game is relly fun eny time at sochol and I the best game in it is train of thoght



3. I gave this puzzle to a friend who works with brain injured children. Not only did the kids help Dr. Brain get his mind together again, but the puzzles helped the kids to regain some of the ground lost with their injuries.

   The organization of the puzzles echos much of the theories of the seven intelligences.

   Best of all, it's a lot of fun!




4. This puzzle game truly bends your mind. Each puzzle is challenging, even on the easy level. Three levels of play would even give those at Mensa a difficult time. The three dimensional work has helped me picture things for my geometry homework more easily. Although the game does not actually focus on parts of the brain, it focuses on all aspects of logic and reasoning skills. Definently worth buying for all young puzzl solvers.



5. I had this game when I was younger and I thank my lucky stars that my parents bought it for me! I can name all of the elements on the periodic table by their symbols, and sight-read music a little bit. This game provides children with skills they won't realize the utility of for a few years, but it put me way ahead in my high school chemistry and AP Psychology classes!!

3 comments about Bibble Lite 4.9 (Win/Mac/Linux).

1. I also own Paint Shop Pro XI and Adobe Elements 5, but Bibble Lite is better by far. Very simple to use, but, very powerful. I shoot raw format with a Nikon D80 and Bibble Lite makes it simple to prepare great jpegs from the raw files. I like it so much I thought about upgrading to the full version, but the lite version does everything so I am having trouble with deciding to upgrade!!



2. This program is better than Photoshop Elements. It is easy to use & has powerful features.



3. I use Bibble Lite as well as ACR in PSE6 as RAW converters.
   
   Bibble is far faster and uses less resources than ACR. On top of that, batch processing was easy to figure out with Bibble.
   
   Hard to beat this for the money and Bibble's customer support simply eats Adobe's lunch.

No comments about Print Shop 10 Deluxe DVD.

3 comments about Kubuntu 7.10 (PC Edition).

1. I have been a Windows user since version 3.1
   
   That all changed when I finally got tired of:
   1) Error messages that would come up for no apparent reason and with no practical solution
   2) Rebooting for every little upgrade
   3) Getting constant pop-up reminders and reboots behind my back
   4) The Windows way of doing things
   5) Lack of innovation
   
   I've been using Kubuntu 7.10 ever since I've installed it and so far, I'm loving it.
   
   However, making a leap from Windows to Kubuntu is alot like changing religions. You need lots of faith. Your parents and friends are going to be like, "Why would you do THAT?"
   
   Well here's why it's worth making this daring leap of faith:
   
   1) Linux operating systems and software are often free (money-wise) and free to tinker with and modify.
   2) Kubuntu has a nice desktop that is not too different from a Windows desktop.
   3) Most Windows files will run in Kubuntu (Excel, Word, MP3, WMA, Mozilla, etc.)
   4) And finally, CUSTOMIZATION. Instead of one boring desktop, you can install Compiz Fusion and get a cube desktop or E17 for a more practical one. There are more, but those are the two I prefer.
   
   And all those complaints I had about Windows, are practically nonexistent in Kubuntu. I don't have to reboot. I seldom get error messages. And I can customize my computer to my heart's content.
   
   I do have a few recommendations though before you switch:
   1) Run Kubuntu off a Live CD first (to try it out and see if you even like that distribution)
   2) Make sure you have internet access during your install (the ubuntu forums are extremely helpful unlike calling "Professional" tech support and getting some guy from India.
   3) Be patient. I'll admit that Linux takes a while to set up, but once you get things working, you'll love it!



2. I found that installing Kubuntu 7.10 was not what I expected. I found that the root password had to be set manually and I had a very hard time getting into the system to adjust the various settings like I can with Suse's Yast. Furthermore, I could not set up a DSL connection. I, also, could not set up a root desktop. The boot logger sent me a no-can-do message.
   
   I did not find MySql or PHP on the disk. And, worst of all, I did not find an Apache server there either. These are critical to Web site development and testing on a local computer.
   
   However, Kubuntu is new and going in the right direction. It has a good look and feel with high-quality desktop graphics. It has the basic programs that many need. However, it is definitely not a SuSe 10.3. I have read that Kubuntu 7.10 is for geeks, but the truth is, I did not find that to be so. Yes, I could be called a geek, since I entered my first computer code into a computer that had a 5 kilobyte main and a 5 kilobyte upgrade. That was around 1966. And I have been at it ever since.
   
   My advice is that if one is looking for a low-cost operating system to tinker with, buy this one. If one is looking for something that is open source and basically free, buy Kumbuntu. However, if time is important and one counts time as being valuable, then bite the bullet a go with Microsoft Windows and the appropriate commercial software. I stick to Linux for the same reason one owns a car. It lets me do the driving, But when it breaks down, I also have fix it myself.



3. I like to try out diverse Operating Systems on my computers like Xandros,Vista,Ubuntu,Linspire.But Kubuntu failed to install.
   I finally gave up and had forgotten about it until I got this email,asking me to comment on Kubuntu 7.10...