Book Name : Killing Floor
Author : Lee Child
First Published on : March 17th 1997
Number of Pages : 525

Killing Floor – Summary :

The story revolves around the protagonist Jack Reacher, an ex-military policeman who wanders around the country after his discharge from the military. He discovers that he is wrongly accused of murder and is shipped off to jail for a few days. He is acquited and finds that the person murdered was his brother. He goes into the town of Margarave to find the killer and exact revenge.

Along the way, many of Reachers friends betray him but he manages to outsmart them. He uncovers a huge money counterfeiting ring to be the cause of his misfortune and aims to destroy them.

Review :

The story and the writing is fantastic. The author has beautifully built up tension wherever it is needed. Twists are many in number but sometimes appear predictable.

It has a realistic end to it and gives you good reason to grab the next book in the series of Jack Reacher as well.
The story seems to be a bit slow at some places but it does not dull the shine of the book.

Overall, ‘Killing Floor’ By ‘Lee Child’ is a good read if you have some time on your hands.

– Reviewed by karthikeyan M

Publisher: Ubisoft
Game Studio: Ubisoft Montreal
Engine: Dunia
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Reviewed By: Karthikeyan M

The game starts off two years before the movie takes place. You are in the shoes of Able Ryder, a military grunt arriving in Pandora. The game doesn’t do much work of explaining the story and you will find the game confusing if you haven’t watched the movie before. The game revolves around a precious mineral which the Na’vi hoard and the humans want. You are forced to decide which side you will support – about 45 minutes into the game.

Pros+

Human part of game play is good
Graphics are breath taking

Cons-

Controls are clunky for the Na’vi
Game becomes repetitive after a while

Human Gameplay

The gameplay branches off after you’ve made your alliance. If you’ve made your alliance with the humans, you will be given advanced weapons and various special abilities to destroy the Na’vi horde. The controls are passable and camera tracking is tolerable. This is the side you should choose in your first play through.

Na’vi Gameplay

The Na’vi side of the game is terrible. You are a clumsy 10 foot beast with barely any sense of direction. You will almost never be pointing or attacking in the direction of enemies. You get banshees and dire horses to ride but that doesn’t do much to take your mind off of the horrible controls.

Graphics

The graphics are mind blowing. Ubisoft Montreal has done a splendid job of bringing to life the lush flora and fauna of  Pandora. As a bonus those with a 3D capable TV will be able to play this game entirely in 3D.

The Verdict

Try the game only if you are a fan of the movie. Otherwise don’t even think about it.

I bought the Xiaomi Mi 4i from Flipkart and here is my review of the latest flagship from Xiaomi after a month of use.

The Packaging:
As is the case with all Xiaomi products, the package is minimalistic. A sim card remover and charger is in the box and that’s all there are besides the manuals and paperwork.

Looks and Aesthetics:
The phone is mostly made of plastic and the front is all glass. It looks decent but definitely hasn’t inherited the stunning looks of the Xiaomi Mi 3. It is slim enough to fit in your pockets without much hassle even if you put a case on it.

The Screen:
The 5 inch screen is has a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels which is the same as that of the Mi 3. It has good visibility even under direct sunlight and the brightness level is pretty sufficient. Colours are sharp and you can alter the saturation levels to your liking.

Connectivity:
Dual Sim 4G, 3G, 2G, GPS, GLONASS, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB On the Go cover all your needs. There is no HDMI Out, but you can mirror your screen on a secondary display using MiraCast.

Under The Hood:
The Xiaomi Mi 4i runs on the powerful Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 SoC. It runs smoothly on the MIUI interface and I’ve had no issues with lag so far. Demanding and graphically intensive games are easily handled by the Adreno 405 GPU.

The Battery:
A Non-removable Li-Ion 3120 mAh battery powers the Xiaomi Mi 4i. Even on heavy usage it should easily last a day. But don’t expect it to last more than that. I’ve used it moderately on occasional 3G browsing and heavy music playback for 1.5 days without having to charge it.

The Camera:
The camera is as good as that found in the Xiaomi Note 4G and the Mi 3. No complaints here. Low light shots suffer from a bit of grain but you cant complain at this price point. The dual tone flash captures skin tones accurately and a lot better than conventional dual flashes.

Verdict:
Despite the price drop in the Mi 4 recently, the Xiaomi Mi 4i still remains a viable option. If you are in the market for a phone in this price bracket, I’d suggest you go for it without a second thought.

Camera samples:

Under Good Lighting:

I recently purchased the Xiaomi Mi3 from FLipkart and after 2 months of using it, here’s what I have to say about it.

Following the same trade principle of Motorola’s Moto G, the Xiaomi is extremely well priced for the hardware it offers.

The Packaging:

The box is minimalistic and recyclable. Xiaomi has decided to go for a no-nonsense box. It is small and doesn’t contain much of the unnecessary paperwork that most other phone manufacturers tend to include. There is a USB cable, wall wart and a pin to remove the SIM tray. A small Quick Start booklet and that’s all.

Looks and Aesthetics:

The phone looks phenomenal. The full glass front and the brushed metal back look simply stunning. It beats every other phone Ive seen in terms of first impressions. Its comfortable to hold and carry around. You can buy various coloured back stick-on cases. The only niggle here is that the Xiaomi Mi3 will not fit in your front pocket. But then again, if you are buying a 5 inch device, you already know that.

The Screen:

The 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inch screen has a pixel density of 441 ppi. It is immensely sharp and delivers colours pretty well. The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 will prevent small bumps and scratches on your precious new screen. The MIUI is amazingly simple and to the point.

The MIUI Skin:

The MIUI is really beautiful. There are hundreds of themes available for free and each is of top quality. There are updates almost every month which fix bugs and improve performance among other things. Notifications and quick settings are easy to see and use. The All Apps screen is no more so you’ll have to get used to seeing all your apps on the home screen.

Connectivity:

3G, 2G, GPS, GLONASS, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB On the Go cover all the bases. There is no HDMI Out, but you can mirror your screen on a TV using Miracast.

Under The Hood:

The Xiaomi MI3 runs on the capable Snapdragon 800 chipset with a quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400 processor, Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. It performs well in all benchmark tests including CPU, GPU and RAM tests. More than whats needed for daily use and powerful enough for taxing games as well.

The Camera:

A 13.1 Mega Pixel primary camera and a 2 Mega Pixel secondary camera ensures good quality photos. The primary camera is sharp and low light performance is good. The exposure and ISO settings can be tweaked. The exposure can go up to 2 seconds. The photos are really sharp and detailed in good lighting conditions. Even the front cam takes impressive selfies 😉

The Software:

The Xiaomi Mi3 runs MIUI on top of Android 4.4 Kit Kat. Many of the settings which were hard to turn on or off in plain android are easier to access in MIUI. The contact management and phone functions work just as you expect them to.

The Battery:

The Xiaomi Mi3 has a 3050 mAh non-removable battery. Battery life is impressive and easily lasts a whole day of heavy usage. Normal usage should see you around 3 days. The Battery is one of the Killer Features which should make you consider this phone.

Problem with the Back cases:

Xiaomi went horribly wrong with the stick on back cases. They obscure the flash a tiny bit and glare the photos taken with the flash on. Avoid them at any cost.

Camera Pictures:

The Box:

Random Wall:

Selfie:

Without HDR:

With HDR:

Verdict:

This device punches well above its weight. If you are looking for a phone in this range, I will suggest you go for it. Long battery life, sharp display, Unibody design, eye catching looks, and great software are some of the things you should consider. Some people have problems with this phone but I have seen none. Just avoid the back cases and you should be fine.

Lara Croft : Tomb Raider 2013

We have all seen Lara Croft as an extraordinary adventurer rivalled only by Indiana Jones but never like this. This game depicts Lara on her first ever expedition to discover the lost island of Yamatai. She is nothing more than an academic with no field experience. The game lets us witness Laura as she is stabbed, pounded, shot, suspended upside down and thrown off cliffs as she transforms from naive archaeologist to merciless killer.

Pros+
Builds up Lara from scratch.
Amazing settings and visuals.
Wide array of puzzles.
Good controls.

Cons-
Multiplayer is very lackluster.
Somewhat predictable story.

Gameplay:
The gameplay was top notch. Varying from mountain climbing, running through forests, underground caverns, and so on. The Quick Time Events also were a refreshing change from the ordinary events. Fail any of those Quick Time events and you’ll end up crushed, dragged, mauled or killed in any other way.
Lara’s Survival instinct mode also helps you move along the game by highlighting important aspects such as wolf tracks, salvage, and doors which you have to open.

There are endless customization options and they allow you to modify your gear with the salvage you’ve found. Hunting for salvage is a nice distraction in itself.

Graphics:
The graphics were amazing. The splendid changes from open jungle to underground cave to brick buildings is awesome. The world is huge with endless number of caves to explore and tombs to raid. You are after all the tomb raider.

Controls:
The controls were perfect. Running away from enemies, sneaking up to them and killing them were all a pleasure due to the very responsive controls which do exactly what you tell them to.

Gun controls were a tiny bit unpolished but they were extremely minor niggles in an otherwise perfect game. Nothing to deter you from trying this game out for yourself.

The Verdict:
Lara Croft : Tomb Raider is a reboot which lives up to the name of the previous games. It combines breathtaking visuals and diverse landscapes with pinpoint controls and an engaging story line to bring to you a Lara Croft which you have never seen before.

The only downside is the multiplayer part which frankly does not live up to the singleplayer campaign.

A MUST play.