The short
Reviews are hard to write.
But this one will probably be the easiest one I ever put on this site.
The entirety of this review can be summed in a few words.
Don’t buy the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller.
Just. Don’t.
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Best in Show — Airdog X5 Air Purifier Review
First things first…
I had the opportunity to review the Airdog X5 air purifier and received it a few days before a midnight lightning strike that occurred after a very dry day sparked fires in my county. The fires were very close to my home, and so much ash was sent up into the atmosphere that the streets turned an eerie orange from the sunlight trying to get through the heavy pall which could evidently be seen from space.
Though this review will discuss the merits of the Airdog X5, I hope I can also raise awareness of the plight of those who have lost homes and possessions to the fires that have ravaged California. Please consider supporting the Wildfire Relief Fund or donating to an organization that helps the displaced.
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Under Lock and Keypad — SecureDrive KP Review
Digital briefcase
Having now reviewed two flash drives with security features, I’ve yet to come up with any real-world applications for them because — well, let’s face it — I’m not that big of a deal.
Sure, it’s nice to know that my files — be they MP3s, client photos, or lesson plans — are safe and secure from prying eyes. But does anyone really care what I’m carrying in my pocket or hanging from my keychain?
I imagine anyone finding one of my non-secure flash drives would be happy just knowing they’ve received a free flash drive that needs a quick formatting. No one, after having gone through my files, will feel like they’ve stumbled across something huge. I don’t carry anything so sensitive that I’d be the ideal target for blackmail, and anything I have that’s actually confidential is better served being stored in the cloud behind passwords.
Now, there are some who would love to have the kind of security SecureDrive offers on its BT flash drives. Contracts, sensitive for-your-eyes-only documents, and unique files that could lead to lawsuits or controversy if leaked would be well protected by any of SecureDrive’s products so long as they work as intended.
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Security Now — SecureData SecureUSB BT Review
Lock it down
In a world where the ever-increasing need for data security has finally gone past the office doors and into the homes of private users, the SecureUSB BT from Secure Drive offers so, so, so many options for keeping your files safe and secure.
An award-winning flash drive like this — it was the Red Dot 2019 Award winner as well as a CES 2019 Innovation Award Honoree — can do a lot of good for people who can’t exactly handcuff their digital briefcases to their wrists but want to keep one handy and hanging off a keychain.
With the one-two punch of the SecureUSB BT and the DataLock app, you’ll have the option of locking down your drive with an assorted and stackable set of security options that require either a password, biometrics, a code sent to your phone or all three at the same time.
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Batchair — Secretlab OMEGA Dark Knight (2020 Series) Review
Na na na na na na na na — Batchair!
I’ve owned my Secretlab OMEGA Dark Knight chair for about a year now, and I think I have enough information for a complete review.
So, here goes!
When my wife and I bought a house and moved in, it was an opportunity to build the home office I’ve always wanted. I painted the walls, bought furniture, and loaded the room with my favorite things.
After that, I was in the market for a nice racing chair because the office chair I’ve been using has been breaking down over time.
I had a few brands in mind, but when Secretlab announced their limited edition Dark Knight edition, I jumped at the chance and preordered. To top it off, Secretlab sent an email with a surprise announcement notifying me that my chair would also get the 2020 Series upgrades that includes upgrades and improvements the company has been working on for the past three years.
Some of those upgrades included the new PRIME 2.0 PU (polyurethane) leather, Cold-Cure foam, full-metal armrests, and a new neck pillow featuring a cooling gel pad.
Combined with industry-awesome specs — a full-length recline mode, Class 4 hydraulics, and the ADC12# aluminum wheelbase — I looked forward to receiving my first Secretlab chair.
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Mixed Results — Coffee Time Review
Ever wonder what it would be like to own a small coffee shop that doubles as a late-night meetup in a fantasy world where orcs order cafe lattes?
In Coffee Time, you are the Barista, a faceless character serving drinks to regulars and the occasional extra-terrestrial looking for dating advice.
Coffee Time fits in the genre of a visual novel with intermittent spurts of activity where you fill someone’s order for a drink by choosing the ingredients. You don’t get to choose options for dialogue, and you’ll mostly rely on one or two buttons to continue the automatic conversations or fast-forward quickly through sections on a replay after you’ve beaten the game.
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Stuck In a Moment With You — The Last of Us Remastered Review
I’m late.
I know.
HyperGeeky has been in cruise control since I started teaching. And unlike the other “careers” I’ve taken up (photography, IT, part-time teaching), going full-time and switching schools hasn’t given me much time or energy for playing video games, watching movies, and writing reviews.
But isn’t it funny — to think that a pandemic led me to start working on the site again and that one of my first reviews is about a game in which the world has been turned upside down by a mysterious illness?
It wasn’t planned — I moved to the WordPress servers like a couple months ago. (I have receipts.)
Anyways, the Last of Us isn’t the first game I played now that I’m back into gaming, but it is the one I most recently beat.
It’s a game I’ve been wanting to play ever since its release, but circumstances always kept me from actually purchasing it. Now that the sequel is out, and some critics have called it a masterpiece, I decided it was time.
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The Hand That Feeds — Knives Out Review
Family and business mix in Knives Out, a whodunnit sleuther from director and writer Rian Johnson that spins the genre on its head by starting out with the murderer revealed.
The real story and mystery reveals itself as a parable about good vs. evil, treating your guests hospitably, and the current state of our nation.
Ana Armas stars as Marta Cabrera, a nurse with a quirk — she can’t lie without vomiting. Her tell makes her the perfect canary for Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a private detective hired to solve the murder of Cabrera’s charge, mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).
Harlan was found with his throat slashed after his 85th party. Ruled a suicide, Blanc is hired by an unknown who suspects foul play. Blanc meets the family members at Harlan’s memorial for a second round of questioning.
Each of the family members are interrogated, and each one has a damaging secret to hide from the authorities who are looking for a motive. Vignettes show Harlan giving each of his entitled and untrustworthy family members marching orders in a bid to correct their behavior.
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Schadenfreude — The Disaster Artist Review
I first heard about The Room while I was in South Korea. Labeled as one of the worst movies ever filmed, it had somehow attracted a huge following that included sold-out midnight viewings.
To this day, I have not been able to get myself through one complete viewing of the original film. It’s an assault on the senses and a failure by every standard metric I hold regarding filmmaking.
It’s bad. Real bad.
The acting is subpar, the dialogue needs heavy editing, and the threadbare plot just sort of… happens.
Tommy Wiseau, the director, writer, producer, and star of the film plays Johnny, a man who eventually finds out his fiancee is cheating on him with his best friend Mark.
Supporting characters weave in and out of the movie, adding to the conflict and drama with the subtlety of a runaway Mac truck backing its trailer through a warehouse. There’s Denny, Johnny’s teenage friend, who is in debt to a violent drug dealer, and Peter the psychologist who learns about the secret affair from both Tommy and Mark. Lisa, the fiancee, tells Johnny she’s pregnant, admits the pregnancy was a lie to cover up her affair with Mark, and then moves in with Mark.
Betrayed, Tommy decides to take his own life.
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Code Break — iStorage datAshur Personal2 Review
Anyone traveling with or looking to move data securely from one computer might be interested in iStorage’s many offerings.
The company, based in the United Kingdom, offers virus protection and backup solutions on the software side to go along with their bread and butter business — encrypted hard drives with PIN authentication that conforms to the highest in government standards.
Their various drives come in all sorts of different colors, shapes, and sizes. And while their more expensive offerings make the company look like their main demographic is made up of business and corporations hoping to stave off spies and hostile engineers, they have a new offering of personal flash drives for the weekend warriors or the duly paranoid.
The datAshur Personal2 is a flash drive aimed at consumers who want to make sure their files stay private. Whether they’re filled with presentations heading home for some extra polish or security footage that needs a second look, no one without the PIN code should be able to reasonably break through the military grade AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption.
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