Fun, useful, and labor-saving
919448
I moved into a new house recently, with a big yard that's half sod and half recently-seeded dirt.  Like a previous reviewer, I've been spending most of my free time moving sprinklers around.
This travelling sprinkler was a gift from my father-in-law.  It looked like a novelty product that the kids would play with, but it's become one of the most useful lawn care devices I've ever owned.
I set mine up as soon as I get home from work and let it spend a few hours watering the sod while I have dinner with my family, take the kids to their sporting events, etc.  It does a great job and gives excellent coverage, with very little effort from me.
One note:  as it says in the fine print on the side of the box, don't use this on a recently seeded patch of soil.  I tried that before I saw the warning and the tractor got stuck in the mud and dug a trench across the back yard.  My fault completely, but watch out that you don't repeat my mistake!
1585446
Good value.  Rigid and sturdy. Fun to use.
2205305
This, along with my inflatable shims, is the most useful tool in my toolbox. Gets me to those hard-to-reach appliance screws with ease. Helps me save money by making most appliance repair jobs a cinch. Well-made adjustable and versatile tools like this help make me more productive and confident in doing small jobs around the house rather than calling a professional service for convenience.

This tool feels solid in your hands with a textured rubber grip. It's not too heavy to hold for extended periods of time. And the angling head still delivers powerful turns with no wobbling. Pivoting action is tight and not excessively loose. And it cleans easily so I don't have a buildup of crud. I highly recommend this.
3654064
Bugdom 2 is a clever and fun family game for Macintosh users. The hero is Skip the Grasshopper. A bumblebee has stolen his knapsack, and you will take him through a variety of tasks in a wide array of environments to get it back. There are ten levels, and the renditions are beautiful and charming. You start in The Front Yard (aka the scene of the crime), and this is a good level in which to acquire skills such as jumping, flying and kicking. Levels include The Back Yard; Fido's Fur (where you stamp out ticks and fleas); two levels in which you "surf" down a pipeline past obstacles; outrageously fun levels in the house's Playroom and Closet (with terrific details and thrilling action -- dodging vacuum cleaners! riding cars on a toy racetrack! completing a jigsaw puzzle! -- that leave our young 'un screaming with delight); a bombardier trip on a model airplane; and finally, a jaunt through The Park, fleeing ferocious frogs and gape-mouthed fish, battling picnic-crashing ants and ultimately retrieving your knapsack from the bumblebee's hive.

Along the way you'll kick acorns to find valuable clovers and extra lives, and collect powerups from the ubiquitous butterflies, who shower you pleasantly with flowers as they deposit strawberries and blueberries or arm you with "buddy bugs", who can assault the resident flies and fleas from a distance.

There is action as well as problem solving with no killing, though you do kick enemies.  A wonderful Kids Mode turns most of the dastardly villains into neutral observers so that little ones can play without getting freaked out. I'd say a 5- or 6-year old could play unassisted, but our toddler loves playing the game with us and performs many of the actions. Use the arrow keys to move, the Space Bar to jump or fly (and it's really fun to be able to fly!), Control to kick, Tab to send a buddy bug out, and Option to pick up or drops objects (so you can get maps from Sally Chipmunk or complete errands for Sam the Snail). An electronic manual explains things well.  The Return key lets you switch between four perspectives that vary in your distance behind Skip's shoulder.  The levels are large with occasional checkpoints, but you can only save the game at the end of the level.

We've found two problems with the game that are annoying but surmountable, and will probably be fixed with a patch: the Garbage Can task of popping all the soda can tabs does not seem to work -- you have to pop them all then leave the game sitting for a while and come back in order to find the key you need; and sometimes when you are trying to jump to reach the top of the picnic basket the flowers are not solid but drop you through.

Pros:  Fun, interesting, immersive environments.  Flying.  Volume, music and perspective controls at the keyboard so you can make immediate adjustments easily.  Kids Mode tames the villains for younger players.  Pleasant music.  Good electronic manual. Developed on Macs for Mac users.
Cons:  A couple of annoying bugs in the program.  No key reassignment.  Not being able to save except at the end of levels.

Caveats aside, our child has enthusiastically learned to use the arrow keys and now performs multiple key stroke maneuvers.  I am an old first-person shooter player but I still find this game fun, and I've found my husband playing when he thinks we're all asleep.  Fun for the whole family!
51476
It's hard to say whether putting everything together or driving it around is more fun. I actually really enjoyed reading through the instructions, finding the parts for each step, and building the main components for this truck. The instructions are very clear, and broken apart into smaller, manageable steps. From start to finish, It took me about 20 hours in total, broken apart across a few days, to get the truck assembled, painted, and running. About 6 of those hours were just working on the body and outer details, though.

This kit contains no electronics, so you'll need to provide the following:
* Radio system (transmitter and receiver)
* Steering Servo
* Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
* Battery and charger (plus batteries for the transmitter)

You'll also need a Phillips-head screwdriver, paint for the body, and I'd recommend some CA glue for the tires.

I outfitted my Lunch Box with a Hobbywing WP-1060 Brushed ESC, a 27T Axial motor, a Traxxas 2076 servo, and the cheapest FlySky radio system I could find that didn't look ridiculous. It's worth noting that if you're going to run with a LiPo battery, you will need to modify the battery compartment to make it fit. I took a dremel to a small plastic area, and now I can fit a soft-case battery in there no problem. It will not fit a hard-cased Duratrax battery without *really* forcing it in there, which just seems like a bad idea.

With this setup, I can blip the throttle to make it wheelie, or I can ease into the throttle to get it bounding across the field. I've seem videos of people putting super-fast brushless motors in these things, which seems kind of... silly. Either way, I absolutely recommend gluing the tires into place, because even at regular speeds, a few sharp turns and they start to roll off the rims.

All around, a really enjoyable build, and lots of fun to drive. It's not graceful by any means, but by keeping the battery down low, and having a wide stance, it really doesn't tip over as often as you may think.
1727300
50 fun, simple projects to make that look like you spent much more time to make than they do.  Love it.
4095441
I stumbled across Make: in a retail store and bought a copy.  Nearly fifteen bucks for a "magazine" is pretty spendy for me, but minimal advertising and lots of interesting articles and reviews hooked me.  I've since subscribed, but when I found out Amazon had back issues at discounted prices, I had to pick up the issues I had missed.  In addition to gaining the confidence to try to repair some things I previously considered "disposable", I learned about a drain-cleaning tool that more than paid for all of the issues I've purchased in the money it saved me on a call to a drain-cleaning service.

From super low-tech incredibly hi-tech, there is something to interest most tinkerers here.
1702186
Guest Reviewer ! MRS. KNOW IT ALL ;-b

I am having a ball with this software---of course, when I find time.  It makes creating and printing cards a breeze.  Which comes in handy in today's economic times--have you seen the price of a Hallmark card lately???  This allows you to present your loved ones something more personal, which I think is more valuable then a purchased card.  Don't think that this is just a card creating program, it can do more, such as creating newsletters and posters, etc.  A nice editing feature is that it has the cut-copy-paste-drag abilities.  Also, you can add special effects and pictures from numerous sources.  I have only created cards so far, but am looking forward to creating some other things to share with my family---again, as soon as I find the time!  So, I would consider this a good purchase for the creative person.  Keep an eye on this one, as I have seen Amazon offer a FREE download not to long ago.
4774911
I love Play-Doh, forget the kids, I love it.  Probably not a great statement for a thirty year old man in a professional job to make but what can I say, I love squeezing it and molding it into fun little shapes.  So sue me.

Like most Play-Doh sets, this one is easy to set up and use.  Lots of little fun cranks and holes for little hands to make things with.  Or big hands.  Don't judge.

But then comes Play-Doh plus, a softer, creamier version of Play-Doh.  The soft serve to the regular's hard scoop.  It's also fun, a little messy but fun.  Of course, when you are making toppings for your ice cream, you are essentially encouraging the mixing of regular and plus, that's when it all just goes to hell.  Plus has a tendency to mix into regular giving off strange colors and textures.

If you can convince your kid not to mix regular and plus, you'll have a good time with this, but you know, good luck with that.
4552216
There are some fun projects in this book, and they don't necessarily require fat quarters, of course.  The instructions are clear, the illustrations informative, and I can't wait to get started on one!
4843063
I've had my Roomba Red for a year, and I still marvel that someone didn't come up with this a LONG time ago. Think about how much time washing machines and dishwashers save you -- you don't have to waste time vaccuuming anymore either. Granted, the Roomba takes longer to vaccuum a room than I would, but it's much more WILLING. It's so easy to use, that I use it more often. My house is cleaner and healthier. And it does a quality job. It does edging and gets under furniture--things I don't always do when I'm pushing an upright vaccuum.

I recommend using the Virtual Walls. They keep Roomba away from dangers like steps and Christmas trees, and they help in large "great rooms," where Roomba tends to wander.

Basically, if you earn more than $8 an hour, this thing will pay for itself in 20 hours of time you don't have to spend vaccuuming. As far as getting this as a gift, I wouldn't be offended. To me it says, "Honey, I want you to spend more time with me, and less time with the house!"
2381899
These floor mat tiles are so handy---I've used them several ways:  to make a path in the garage so the back-and-forth laundry trips are less tiring, and to line the inside of pop-up shade structures and tents for extra cushioning.  Set up could not be any easier---the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, in any configuration you want.  The tiles are thick enough to make a comfortable walking or sitting surface, but are not so bouncy that they make you feel unstable.  HOWEVER......there are several things that I wish I'd known about beforehand:

1.)  Each square comes with a set of four edges.  But since the edge pieces are not all the same, that's not really enough edges for popular configurations, such as a long path running the full length of the garage, which means you'll have to stare at unfinished sides of your masterpiece.

2.)  God forbid you get ANY water under them, because they become an instant death-trap----for example, if the washing machine overflows and a thin layer of water flows under the tiles, they will immediately SHOOT out from under you like a cartoon banana peel.

3.)  They can be hosed off, but not as easily as you might think, because little pebbles and bits of dirt actually get embedded in the foam, and have to be picked out.  They also take forever to dry.

The squares do a good job of laying flat, though.  They don't curl up, and the jigsaw parts lock flatly and evenly.  The foam is not thick enough for an adult human to fall on from a great height, but they're a little bit thicker than a yoga mat, so you can sit on them comfortably, do sit-ups etc.  They're really useful when throwing knives, so you don't risk a bent point if a blade bounces off the target, and I could see them being useful for practicing a variety of distance weapons, darts, etc.  As a final anecdote, I've also used these inside my cat's play tent (a.k.a. space station,  a.k.a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Pacific-Play-Tents-Space-Station-Tent-and-4-Tunnel-Combo-White-Multi-Colored/dp/B001AMKL6U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Pacific Play Tents Space Station Tent and 4' Tunnel Combo, White/Multi Colored</a>) which has a 4ft x 4ft footprint.  It makes it a lot more comfortable for us to prepare for our space missions...
1445226
The only way I'd give this a better rating is if it was free. I'm a newbie sewer, making mostly gear for camping and hiking and working mostly with slippery ripstop nylon and sewing on bits of velcro and grosgrain ribbon to things. So my stuff doesn't need to look real pretty, but it does need to work. and sometimes, using this magical product to shave off time and tedium of pinning and pinning and pinning, is a wonderful moment.

If my cashflow situation was better, I'd use this ALL the time. As it stands, it's a lovely luxury for me. Brilliant little invention that's save me loads of time and a healthy dose of (I'm)patience pinning stuff. And even though I am a bit lazy when it comes to things like sewing, I like having the luxury of saying I'm smart and efficient using time saving tricks, which this product is all about.
190212
Extremely useful and help save a ton of effort and help avoid mistakes
4771938
This is a MUST-HAVE FOR THE IMPATIENT BEGINNER WHO MUST GET SOMETHING DONE FAST.

I got some Perl experience two years ago and just started using it again.  This is very readable.  Most chapters had me itching to try things out.  I was amazed at the outrageous things one can do with this handy language.

This is what I would expect from a third edition: it is well-conceived and the examples are meaningful and comprehensive, i.e., they cover many "what if" situations that would normally occur as afterthoughts.  Most of the annoying humor and cuteness that ruins many IT books has been relegated to the footnotes.  The footnotes are dense with valuable fine points.  Every page is crammed with interesting information; it's a gold mine.  The authors *do* give away the store.

There are fun little exercises at the end of each chapter, with the answers in Appendix A.  (If you plan to use this as a class text, the exercises probably won't suffice; you may want to write more rigorous ones --and more of them.)  Covers Perl command-line commands and the most common Perl modules (of the 10,000+ that are out there now).  It clarifies the important distinction between Unix "globs" and regular expressions, and shows how to make your programs work with pipes.  It does not cover everything (for example, I found no mention of @INC); however, the authors repeatedly refer to "perldoc" to get you in the habit of using it.  The index is excellent.

In terms of usefulness, this was a dramatically greater value than the Perl Cookbook, which contains fine points I use only rarely.  It's worth much more than I paid for it --an excellent value.
1994965
You are going to have great fun with this. And if you have some serious uses for it, all the better. The ease of use only begins with shooting video. Plug it in, and the software pops up to lead you through the various options -- and they've covered pretty much everything you'd want to do with the clips. I prefer to download them and process the clips through Microsoft MovieMaker; I can cut the original AVI files from the Flip down to 1/10th the size as WMV files for less-than-broadband connections -- and email them or put them on a website, all within a quarter of an hour.
1778246
Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition is not something necessary for the enjoyment of life, but, then, neither is a computer, a cell phone, or a TV, unless you are a diehard couch potato.  What this collection of utilities does is add some fun to Windows XP, and it's stuff no other operating system enjoys.  I personally use Photo Story and Analog Recorder often, because they are both easy to use and a blast to use, too.  The games collection could have been better, but, hey, for a little over ten bucks, why complain?