Stop SOPA and PIPA. Free internet for us all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act


The above link will take you to read in detail about the SOPA act from wikipedia.



Hello all. I am Johnny and you might have heard of seen some of my reviews. I know that this has nothing to do with the purpose of our blog however I would like to take a few moments of your time to address my personal opinion as Johnny and not as the people and owner of SplashOfOurWorlds.


We as a generation have enjoyed a completely free internet and have turned it into an irreplaceable tool that we use for entertainment, knowledge and socializing. Since I remember using the internet I remember that there was always piracy within the internet.

However I find SOPA as an act to be the most serious threat free internet has faced as far as I have known.

SOPA basically allows the major corporations to immediately shut down and sue sites and even people that they ASSUME, MIGHT, promote piracy. In short that would place millions of sites and blogs, including SplashOfOurWorlds in risk of being shut down or even sued because some major corporation thinks that we promote piracy or have copyright violating material.

The reason of this post is to draw your notice to the issue and perhaps give you a friendly nudge towards showing your disagreement towards an act that might cause serious filtering of the internet.

Television, radio and newspapers are media that have fallen under the influence of corporations and now their gaze has turned towards the internet. As far as we are concerned, let us not allow it.

Thank you for your time

Johnny B.

Book Review: Thieves At Heart

Tavera has grown up an outsider. A half-elf in a land of humans, she finds herself dragged through various jobs for other people's benefit and used for the gain of others. When a thief named Derk plucks her from her latest job she expects more of the same from the cunning streetsman, but instead finds direction, guidance and protection for the first time in her life. Her pa belongs to a group called The Cup of Cream, a group of elite thieves, scoundrels and other sorts who seek not only personal gain but to keep balance in the Valley.To join their ranks would please her father and give Tavera the acceptance she's been seeking all her life. When the unthinkable happens, she is forced to wonder if the Cup sees her as just another tool up their sleeve, or if they understand she is an individual with her own desires, whose heart beats faster with every take. When she needs them most, will they be there for her? She's about to find out.

Thieves At Heart
Publication Date: September 28th 2011
Pages: 249 (paperback)
Part of Series: The Valley of Ten Crescents #1
Purchased: For Review by the author
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Buy: Amazon (US) - Paperback
  Amazon (UK) - Kindle
Amazon (US) - Kindle

REVIEW:
Can you believe a book with such a well done cover is from an indie author? And wait to have it at your hands! It's definitely one of the best books in a matter of a creation i had in hands. It's so well done and i just had to mention it. I know we should not judge a book by its cover, but for first impression i was just so extremely excited to read it because i felt like the inside will be the same as good.


And to talk about the inside, yes it was as good. Simple and light writing which keep you in with the right amount of details a story need so you can have a good image in your head. My favorite part were the description of the characters, which made them really real. On the story side, it's captivating. It's interesting and gets you in from the first moment. Instead of following a high class person or a prophecy girl, you get to follow an outcast in a fantasy world. And not only outcast because Tavera is a thief but also because she is also half-elf, a race which you don't really call a favorite in this world. The story contains action, relationship matters, mystery, mission, killing and it keeps you interested at the whole part.


Laslty, we have Tavera and Derk. Tavera is our main character. A half-elf thief and Derk is her mentor and an elite thief. Now, Tavera is an unique girl. For her age (because she is young) is quite clever. Later she becomes a very nice thief too. I could sympathize with her most of the time. The only negative i have to say about (and in general for the book) is how sometimes she was thinking so much about boys, kissing and at some point sex that she was becoming annoying. It's not weird to thing about those things, not only because she starts to becomes a woman but also because of her back story...but sometimes it was so concentrated on that matter and i just wanted to go on with the story, that it got impatient in a bad way. But except that, i can't say something else bothered me.
And Derk....well he is my favorite character. Mentor, mysterious, nice guy,protective etc...you can't really say no to him :P He was by far the most interesting person of all and i loved each one of his scenes no matter how small they were! I want a mentor like him too!


Thieves at Heart was a great start of a series! It was fast and different and i totally enjoyed it. Tavera might annoyed me at some points, but heck! The concept is original and i liked it! It was a good break from the romance of YA.

Book Review: The Steampunk Chronicles - The Girl In The Steel Corset

In 1897 England, 16-year-old Finley Jayne has no one expect the "thing" inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch....

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her and says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something.

But The machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of stray's appart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on, even if it seems no one believes her.

The Girl With The Steel Corset
Publication Date: May 24th 2011
Pages: 304 (ebook)
Part of Series: Book #1
Purchased: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Buy: Amazon (UK) || Amazon (US) || BookDepository

REVIEW:

What I first noticed on the book was the title, it caught my attention, and then the cover which is identical to the title and so beautiful, that I didn't need more persuation into reading the book. Last time I saw my Boss, aka Yiota, she asked my opinion about the book, but her question was out of the blue and I didn't have the time to prepare myself and answer her correctly. So here's my answer. I'd like, also to say that this was the first Steampunk novel I've ever read.

There are many things that I liked. Firstly, I liked the whole world, it wasn't something entirely different. It felt like I was watching a movie about old London, with the difference than there are some automatons or robots, and that there are some technological achievements that are newer in years.

Secondly, I liked the story and the characters. The story was a simple mystery that mixes both historical -real- figures, with the fictional characters. It also has some magic in, but nothing too fancy. The characters were different. They were acting different, they were thinking different. And that was good, because you had the opportunity to see many reactions in the same situation.

And lastly, I liked the writing. It was simple and understanding. We are able to see both lives in high society and the simpler one. The author doesn't write in point of views, which was good, because we are able to see all of the characters in equal parts and learn about their stories. Also, she doesn't stay too long in scenes, as a result the book is balanced, she cares about the romance as she cares about the action scenes, not more, not less.

Among the things I liked was the way the story flows, and how she manages to make all of her characters interesting. Sure there were some moments that I wanted to hit Sam for being so foulish, the fact that I knew who was The Machinist long before the characters find out and the cliche love triangle, that made it little boring, but other than that, it wasn't tiring at all.

Bottom line, the book was really good, I liked it and enjoyed it a lot, so I guess it's 4.5/5, it just misses the half point for the boring and already seen stuff.

P.S.: This is my first review for the new year. I don't think it counts for you, but it matters to me. So in case I forgot to already said it, Happy 2012 with many books, movies, games, etc to fill your life!!

Movie Review : Bridge to Terabithia

Jess Aarons is an outsider at school and even in his own family. Jess has trained all summer to become the fastest kid in his middle school class but his goal is unexpectedly thwarted by the new girl in school. She is by nature limitless and through a very interesting and fun process manages to unlock all the potential of Jess'es limitless imagination.

Bridge To Terabithia
Released:February 16 2007
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 3/5 stars

Buy: Amazon (UK) || Amazon (US)

Review:

The movie starts showing us the life of Jess, a young boy with three sisters. He is the only son of a farmer and he likes to draw, a lot. The first problem that the movie shows about him are some financial problems that made him wear a pair of old pink shoes in the big race. The movie didn't really took the trouble of solving that problem but instead it just threw some scenes at us regarding them.
In spite of his vast imagination and his talend for drawing he is a very close minded, realistic person. All that changes when a new girl arrives at school. She is a rebel, both the way she looks and the way she acts screams that this girl is not playing by other people's rules. The first thing she did to the school was beat the boys in a "boys-only" running race.

The story after that shows us the progress of unlocking all the hidden potential in the imagination that Jess posseses. The result is a whole new world of fantasy, where everything is possible. Untill an event that changes everything.

For the spoiler funs I will write it: The girl dies tottaly out of the blue while passing the river to get into Terabithia, their world. After so much effort into making her the most loved character in the movie she just dies... WTF !? And after that Jess just replaces her with one of his sisters. What is the point of this, that everyone can be replaced ? that sucks as an ending.

For the non-spoiler fans I will just say that the ending let me down, greatly.

So to sum up I would say that the movie would be a great introduction to a trilogy but I did not see any more movies so I guess this ending really ruins the movie. But the duration of the movie was cool, with nice animations and a lot of imagination so I will give it an above average rating for that.