On of the great things about the debate for me is that both my 17 year old and my 10 year old joined to watch and stayed pretty engaged (at least until bed time). Going from memory, I’m going to describe my reaction and takeaways for each of the candidates in roughly the order of impact they had on my opinion. I will to try to capture my impression first in a single word, then expand a bit.  READ MORE

Description: (Amazon synopsis, modified by me) After fighting space pirates and rescuing a damsel in distress, Liam and Nick want nothing more than shore leave at Puskar Stellar. But neither their newest crew member, Marny, nor the Mars Protectorate Navy is ready for them to spend much time relaxing. Their old nemesis, Harry Flark, has found a new mining station to pillage and this could be the perfect opportunity for them to finally take Flark down. 

Read the full review details on SFF Tales: Book Review–Parley (Privateer Tales #3) by Jamie McFarlane

Read the full review details on SFF Tales: Book Review–Dragon Defender by J.A. Blackburn.

Anyway, here is a blog that talks all about it on the Office blog: http://blogs.office.com/2014/03/17/office-lens-a-onenote-scanner-for-your-pocket/

And here is a quick video that demos it …

Unfortunately for Android and IOS users, it is only available on Windows Phone for now.

~ @securityjones

Recently, my wife and I decided it was finally time to say goodbye to the minivan and get a different family vehicle. I’m happy to say we were successful – my wife and I are very happy with our new vehicle.

Having bought several new and used cars over the past thirty years, I’ve had a range of negative experiences. Each time, I learned a small lesson and promised myself I would never make that particular mistake again. I thought it might be useful to share the step-by-step actions that I found useful.

In my previous post, “New Car Buying Tips – Pick Specific Models and Features,” I discussed the importance of knowing exactly which features were available and which were requirements for you.

Assuming you’ve done that and know which model and features you want – and preferably have some acceptable alternates in mind as well – then, the next step is trimming off as much cost as you can from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).

The Honda CR-V was recently ranked #1 for affordable compact SUVs, so on the assumption that this makes the CR-V interesting to many people, I will use it in my examples and discussions. I also strongly recommend that you have 2 or 3 alternate models in mind, so that you can negotiate between different manufacturers and leverage potentially better incentives since they are constantly competing with each other. For compact SUVs as ranked in the link above, for example, I like the look of the Honda, Mazda, Ford and Toyota options.

For purposes of this article, when I want to compare a second vehicle, I will use the Ford Escape, simply because I like the styling a bit more than the others.

In my first post, I identified my requirements for all wheel drive, leather seats and heated seats and found models that met them: Honda CR-V EX-L AWD (MSRP $29,950) and Ford Escape models SE 4WD (MSRP $30,295) and Titanium (MSRP$31,255). In a follow up post, I looked at the issue of dealer inventory, so I’ll use the Honda CR-V EX-L AWD and the Ford Escape Titanium as I look to find lower prices. 

Truecar.com Guaranteed Savings

Truecar is a great repository of information, plus they develop relationships with your dealerships which enables them to give you a guaranteed savings off the MSRP from dealers near you. 

Let’s see how it works for our models.  Go to truecar.com and click on “Select a Vehicle.” We’ll pick Honda and then the CR-V and enter the zip code. At this point, we have to work through a wizard to choose the features we want: all wheel drive, no package, then select EX-L to match the build we identified previously.  Here is the sales charts for a local area and nationwide sales.

The Truecar price for the CR-V is $28,347 (this varies week to week), which saves you over $1600 off of MSRP and is under factory invoice price.

If you click one of the several “Next” buttons and register on the site, Truecar will create price “certificates” (click on thumbnail to the right to see a sample) specific to your local dealers and those dealers will be given your contact information and start contacting you almost immediately. If you are going to negotiate beyond the Truecar price, then I strongly recommend that you get the Truecar certificates for your alternate vehicle as well so you have more prices and dealers to negotiate with.

truecar certificate sample

Here are the Truecar charts for the Ford Escape Titanium 4WD.

Interesting that though the Escape MSRP is quite a bit higher than the CR-V, the Truecar price guarantee puts them much closer due to higher savings on the Escape. This is great, especially if you prefer the Escape but didn’t like the higher price.

Looking at the average sales price history for both vehicles (below), I can see that the Truecar prices for the both cars take them from MSRP down to just under factory invoice price. I also note that the average buyer pays about halfway between MSRP and invoice for the CR-V – don’t be that buyer!

Honda CR-V average price paid and Truecar price

Ford Escape Titanium average price paid

In summary, do not go to a dealership before you have negotiated an acceptable price. If you don't want to negotiate for even more savings, at least go to truecar.com to get their negotiated prices for your local dealers.

If, on the other hand, you want even more savings, then you may want to watch for my next post, here I describe how I used the Truecar price as a starting point to save even more.

~ @securityjones

Image background from wallpaperup.com

September was another great reading month, with a new release in a series I’ve been anticipating, a pseudonym series discovery of an author I’ve already read and a couple of new books discovered via Bookbub.

The @bookbub team replied on one of my reading lists tweets last month and I ended up following them and discovering some free book offers that benefitted both me and my wife, so I want to give a shout out to them – thanks!

Also, as a quick summary to my ongoing kindleunlimited analysis, after an August reading list where kindleunlimited would have saved me $10, September would have cost me $9.99 without covering any of the books I read at all. That makes the value net zero across the past two months.

If you like my reading lists, then I encourage you to (a) leave a comment, (b) share this post, and (c) share your own recent discoveries!

Best regards, Jeff

---

Hidden (Alex Verus #5)

Benedict Jacka

I like the Alex Verus series - an urban fantasy set in an alternate modern United Kingdom - so I was happy to start my September reading with the latest book. This book focuses around Anne Walker, an apprentice Life mage that doesn't trust Alex after events in previous books. I recommend this series, but you should start with the first book if you are just discovering it.

---

Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1)

Rachel Bach (aka Rachel Aaron), $9.99

In the process of reading Rachel Aaron's book on fiction writing, I discovered that she had also written and published a series under the name Rachel Bach. Fortune's Pawn is the first of the series and I really loved it. One of my favorite things about the main character Devi is her over-the-top obsession with her armor. It is an obsession that nobody can identify with, and yet you do (yours just probably isn't battle armor!)

Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1)

Rachel Bach (aka Rachel Aaron), $9.99

Honor's Knight is the second of the series and I really loved it.

Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1)

Rachel Bach (aka Rachel Aaron), $9.99

Heaven's Queen is the third and final book of the series. Pretty much everyone in the universe is after Devi, but as long as she has her armor, she's ready for them to bring it!

Personal (Jack Reacher #19)

Lee Child, $10.99

Someone has taken a shot at the president of France. The bullet was American. The distance between the gunman and the target was exceptional. How many snipers can shoot from three-quarters of a mile with total confidence? Very few, but John Kott—an American marksman gone bad, who has a personal grudge against Reacher —is one of them.

Shadowborn (Light & Shadow #1)

Moira Katson, $0.00

This was well written, but almost nothing good happened to the protagonist. It was testament to the writing that with an almost constant beatdown on our heroine, I still had to finish it. However, I have delayed reading the sequel even though I already bought it because I need a break with something a bit more lighthearted.

A Soul for Trouble (Soulbearer #1)

Crista McHugh, $0.00

This series had a few more rough edges in the plot, but I still found it entertaining and read through all three books. As a tip, you can read the first one for free (currently), then if you decide to continue the series, it is a bit cheaper to by the trilogy edition, which includes all three books.

A Soul for Trouble (Soulbearer #1)

Crista McHugh, $4.99

Book 2 in the series continues the story of Trouble, Loku, Dev and Kell.

A Soul for Trouble (Soulbearer #1)

Crista McHugh, $4.99

This third book in the series is the one where the plot gave me the most heartburn. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I simply couldn't buy the "misunderstanding" that jolts Trouble into her next stupidity, and had to work to ignore it and continue the book.

In my previous post, “New Car Buying Tips – Pick Specific Models and Features,” I discussed the importance of knowing exactly which features were available and which were requirements for you. In that post, I identified three models that met my requirements:

On the face of it, we would proceed forward looking to negotiate on Honda CR-V EX-L and Ford Escape SE models, adding the features we want.

However, it isn’t quite that simple. If you visit a dealership in your area, what are the chances you will find each of these models? Can you find exactly the models you want with the options you want? If not, then the dealer is going to want you to pay for the options that are included that you may not want.

It is easy to imagine as scenario like this. You go to a Ford dealership near you and tell them you are looking for a Ford Escape SE 4WD, but it has to have leather seats.  They have several Ford Escape SEs, but all the ones on the lot also have the foot-activated lift gate – a very popular feature – and the SE Chrome package, which together adds $2000 to the price.

So, doing a bit of searching in my local area inventory, this is what I found.

So, what is the takeaway? Don’t set yourself up for failure by defining a set of options you won’t be able to find.

With that in mind, in my subsequent posts, I’ll be looking at the Honda CR-V EX-L AWD and the Ford Escape Titanium for comparisons, since it looks like I would be able to actually find the base models in inventory at the dealership.

Watch for my next post on this topic where I will share my tips for negotiating the MSRP we identified above down to save you thousands of dollars.

Best regards ~ @securityjones

Shows below are listed in roughly the order of my interest (not by when they come on).

Mondays

	Gotham. (Sep 22, 8:00PM, Fox) Batman’s main city, before there was a Batman. The show focuses on a young detective Gordon (long before he becomes commissioner) paired with Harvey Bullock to solve a high-profile case: the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Expect to see many future super villains this season in their pre-crazy identities (e.g. Selena Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot).
	The Blacklist. (Sep 22, 10:00PM, NBC) Red continues to battle Berlin and faces a new threat from a man named Lord Baltimore. An important person comes back from the past into Red's world. Meanwhile, Liz tries to move forward with her life after her showdown with Tom.
	Sleepy Hollow. (Sep 22, 9:00PM, Fox) We didn’t watch season one, but since it was renewed, I think we might go back and catch up, so we can continue with this season. If you watched it, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
	Ascension. (Nov 24, 9:00PM, Syfy) Not sure about this one, but plan to check to the first few episodes and decide. Synopsis: A young woman's murder causes the passengers of a starship on a secret century-long mission to populate a new planet to question the project's true purpose as they approach the halfway point in their journey.

Tuesdays

	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Sep 23, 9:00PM, ABC) Okay, it took a while to get rolling in the first season, but it finished up strong, leaving a lot of questions after the confrontation (and crossover to Captain America : the Winter Soldier) with Hydra. Coulson and his team are now wanted fugitives with limited resources -- but that's not stopping them from keeping the world safe from powerful and unseen threats everywhere. However, with new members they hardly know, will S.H.I.E.L.D. ever be trusted again?
	Forever (Sep 23, 10:00PM, ABC) This is a good one. Parker and I watched the pilot online and really liked it. Somehow 200 years ago, Dr. Henry Morgan became immortal and has since became an expert on ways to die – so he is particularly useful in solving crimes.
	The Flash (Oct 7, 8:00PM, CW) A freak accident causes a forensic scientist to become a superhero after he gains the ability to move at incredible speed. A spin-off of Arrow, originally based on the DC Comics series. Honestly, I don’t expect this series to make it to season two, but one can hope!
	Person of Interest (Oct 7, 10:00PM, CBS) Looking forward to season four. If you haven’t watched this series, you should check out the previous seasons on Netflix, especially with all of the bleed over into political reality this past year with the NSA, Snowden and privacy issues.

Wednesdays

Arrow (Oct 8, 8:00PM, CW) Season 3. With crime in Starling City at an all-time low thanks to the Arrow and his team, Oliver thinks he can finally balance being both the Arrow and Oliver Queen and asks Felicity out on a date. However, when a new villain emerges, who has claimed the name Vertigo from the recently deceased Count, Oliver is caught off-guard and someone close to him is hurt. Oliver and a newly suited up Roy take on the Count.

The 100 (Oct 22, 9:00PM, CW) I have to admit I’ve never watched this, but included since it is clearly sci-fi. 97 years after a nuclear war, leaders of the survivors living on a cluster of space stations in orbit around the Earth secretly send a group of a hundred teenage delinquents down to the surface to test whether it has recovered enough to become habitable again.

NOTE: Updated to include Mon, Tue & Wed shows before they started, so I’ll come back and update this post for other nights.

Happy viewing and please post a comment if you have thoughts on any of these shows!

~ @securityjones

Recently, my wife and I decided it was finally time to say goodbye to the minivan and get a different family vehicle – immediately causing a constant feeling of low-level stress.

Having bought several new and used cars over the past thirty years, I’ve had a range of negative experiences. Each time, I learned a small lesson and promised myself I would never make that particular mistake again.

So, this time, I was determined to do my homework, be patient, buy a car and drive away without kicking myself or experiencing buyer’s remorse.  I’m happy to say I was successful – my wife and I are very happy with our new vehicle, so I thought it might be useful to share the step-by-step actions that I found most useful.

In subsequent articles, I will detail the different aspects of buying a new car, but will start with the basics of choosing what sort of vehicle you want and with what features.

The Honda CR-V was recently ranked #1 for affordable compact SUVs, so on the assumption that this makes the CR-V interesting to many people, I will use it in my examples and discussions. I also strongly recommend that you have 2 or 3 alternate models in mind, so that you can eventually negotiate between different manufacturers or leverage potentially better incentives since they are constantly competing with each other. For compact SUVs as ranked in the link above, for example, I like the look of the Honda, Mazda, Ford and Toyota options.

For purposes of this article, when I want to compare a second vehicle, I will use the Ford Escape, simply because I like the styling a bit more than the others.

“Special Offers”

I’ve always found TV and print advertisements for great deals on cars to be pretty misleading. The largest reason for this is that the price quoted is sure to be the lowest-end version of a particular model, without any of the features I would consider minimum.  Let’s take a look at Honda incentives and Ford incentives as examples. (It is probably a total coincidence that the monthly cost is exactly the same for both, don’t you think?)

“Look honey, we can get a new Honda CR-V or Ford Escape for only $209 per month!” I’m pretty sure I heard that or similar statements from my wife several times when we started thinking about replacing our mini-van.

These offers sound like great deals – and I’ll come back to these offers in other posts when I look at cost and financing, but for now, let’s look at the specific model features that are identified:

• All wheel drive (AWD) or Two wheel drive (2WD).  I personally want all wheel drive, so that during the winter, we can get around even when it gets icy or snows.
• LX version on CR-V and SE version on the Escape. What does that mean in terms of features?
• Total due at signing.  $1,999 for the CR-V and $3109 for the Escape. Hmm, makes me think I might get some more features on the CR-V if I paid more at signing.

At the end of the day, the monthly payment or lease is determined by what price you negotiate and how much money you pay at signing, so one key step is selecting just the features you want.

Define Your Required Features

The starting point is to know your own requirements. Do you want AWD? What about a foot activated lift gate? Do the exercise for yourself and try to be honest on what is required versus just nice to have.

For me, if I was buying a compact SUV, I have only a few must have features (two of these may or may not have been identified by my wife – but that just makes it more of a requirement.)

• AWD. I definitely want all wheel drive.
• Leather seats. Personal preference, but we want leather seats and are not willing to compromise.
• Heated seats. Again, personal preference.

That is really about it. I want an FM stereo, but am not willing to pay extra for CD or Satellite. I’d take other features, but really don’t want to pay for them. I might be willing to pay extra for a back-up camera, but I’ll have to see what cost it adds.

Identify the Lowest Cost Model that Meets Your Requirements

So, the next step is to go to the vendor sites and do a bit of research to see which model has your features. Most of the vendors have the ability to Build and Price models that lets you select available features.  Keep in mind that this is not the price you should pay, but is the starting point for negotiation.

• Honda CR-V.  Honda CR-V web page includes a build and price link.
• Ford Escape. Ford Escape web page includes a build and price link.

Doing a few builds, here is what I found out for my requirements.  Note that I skipped models (e.g. 2WD) that obviously didn’t meet my AWD requirement.

These results are interesting. Though these vehicles are similar, the MSRP for the Ford Escape models are a bit more expensive than the CR-V models. I also know any deals for the LX are not going to work me, since I can’t get leather seats in the LX.

This took a bit of work, but what was it worth to me? Based upon this research, I can now say with 100% confidence that I will not pay more than $29,950 to get the model and features I want. I might still get a Ford Escape, but only if they are willing and able to match the lower price – I’ll cover more on that in an upcoming post.

Beware of Pre-built Models at Dealerships

Above, I also built “fully loaded” configurations for each vehicle to illustrate how a dealership MSRP can really climb when other options are included. The best reason to do your prep work is to understand the features that you do not want to pay for. 

Many pre-built vehicles will include features that you don’t want, but you will have to pay for if you don’t know what you want. A dealer will very reasonably quote you a price that includes door guards, satellite radio, mud flaps, tow bars because those features are already included for that vehicle.  Know what you want, so you can refuse to pay for any feature you don’t want.

True story, when I was at the dealership negotiating for our new vehicle this spring, the dealer had a model with the color and features I wanted, but they had already added things like “Door Edge Guards” and “Wheel locks” which they included in the quote, adding about $1350 in “value” and cost. The result to me was that they simply added $1350 to the vehicle price for things I did not require. I told them I was happy if they wanted to throw that all in for free in order to sweeten the pot and close the deal immediately, but I was not willing to pay for features I did not want.

By doing your homework in terms of model and features, you will be able to set boundaries for yourself and the dealer and be confident in a position of power.

Watch for my next post on this topic where I will share my tips for negotiating the MSRP we identified above down to save you thousands of dollars.

Best regards ~ @securityjones

August was a great reading month for me, with nearly every book coming with 3.5 stars or more and – excitingly – including several completely new authors for me!

Also, as a follow-up to my post, “Review : Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It?”, I’m now indicating whether the books I read are in the kindle unlimited program or not. This month 5 of the books I read were in kindleunlimited, totaling $19.95 in purchase price. So, for August 2014, kindleunlimited

would have saved me $10 had I been a subscriber. You can see which books below are or are not part of the program at the time of this post.

Best regards, Jeff

---

Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers #1)

Rachel Aaron, $4.99

Loved this book and am happy that it is a new series. I had read Rachel's Eli Monpress series and was recently reminded of her when I read through 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Better, and Writing More of What You Love, so I looked to see what else she had written. Fortuitously, Nice Dragons Finish Last had just published in July.

Basically, this is the story of Julius, a dragon-in-human-form that is completely un-dragon-like. A contemporary setting, so it looks to be a good new Urban Fantasy series.

---

Poor Man's Fight

Elliott Kay, $2.99

Story set in a future space empire where corporations have rigged everything in their favor so that the costs of compulsory education effectively makes everyone a debt slave. Faced with overwhelming debt, Tanner Malone enlists in his home planet's military just as the planet decides to start pushing back on corporations a bit.

---

Rich Man’s War

Elliott Kay, $3.99

In this sequel to Poor Man's Fight, Tanner is right on the front lines of a cold war between his home system of Archangel and the Big Three corporations that have so much influence across the Union of Humanity.

---

The Thin Blue Line (Empire’s Corps #9)

Christopher Nuttall, $3.99

As I mentioned in my June reading list when I reviewed Lessons in Etiquette, Christopher Nuttall is one of my favorite and prolific authors. I honestly think he has a bunch of elves helping him write because he seems to publish new books so frequently. This book is the 9th in the Empire's Corps series, and continues the story of Belinda Lawton, the main character from book #3 in the series. If you are going to read this book, I recommend going back and starting with book #1.

---

Study in Slaughter (Schooled in Magic #3)

Christopher Nuttall, $3.99

Case in point – two new Nuttall books in my reading list this month, with the second one taking place in the fantasy world, where a teenage girl from Earth has been pulled by an evil sorcerer. This book continues the story of Emily as she returns to Whitehall School for her Second Year.

---

Tarah Woodblade (Bowl of Souls #6)

Trevor H. Cooley, $3.99

This is the first book of a series within a series called 'The Jarro Grove Saga.' It had been a while since I read the previous books (Eye of the Moonrat series), but it quickly came back to me and I definitely enjoyed this new story. Tarah is a nicely conflicted character who *thinks* she's pretending to be our hero, while really doing heroic stuff to support her 'pretending.'

---

Protector of the Grove (The Bowl of Souls #7)

Trevor H. Cooley, $4.99

Second book of a series within a series called 'The Jarro Grove Saga.' This book splits time between Tarah as she tries to rescue Esmine and our old friends Justan (Sir Edge) & Jhonate, who face troubles of their own when they have to go meet the in-laws, who happen to be fierce warriors who hate Justan for 'stealing' Jhonate from them.

---

Dreamer’s Curse (Artifactor #2)

Honor Raconteur, $4.99

This book is a sequel to The Child Prince and is a light hearted fantasy about Sevana, a super powerful Artifactor, who simply wants to be left alone - and is very definitely not "huggable", in her opinion - in spite of the fact that people keep hugging her.

---

Defender of the Empire (Cadet #1)

Catherine Beery, $2.99

Welcome to the Spectral Empire - which is a little different for a space empire. This book just published in April and I can't wait for the next in the series. Our hero is from a under privileged background, but just might turn out to be a princess in disguise - a pretty classic hero plot, but done in an interesting way.

---

Not a Drill: A Jack Reacher Short Story

Lee Child, $1.99

Hey, it's Jack Reacher, what more do you need to know? A 44-page novella, fyi, but it's good to visit with Reacher a bit before Personal comes out.

---

The Shaman’s Curse (Dual Magics #1)

Meredith Mansfield, $2.99

Coming of age (magician) story about a boy with one foot in each of two worlds - the plains and the city. An accident causes him to lose a best friend and gain an implacable enemy, setting him on a path that could set both communities against him. Looking forward to the sequel

---

Telekinetic (Hyllis family #1)

Laurence Dahners, $2.99

Relatively short novel (217 pages) about a (post-apocalyptic) frontier family that inherits some small telekinetic powers. Got this because of how much I enjoy the Ell Donsaii series by the same author. I enjoyed this new series as well and look forward to the next one.

---

Inception (Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #1)

Andrew Beery, $2.99

Because I liked Defender of the Empire above, I looked to see what else the author writes and it turned out she’s been a co-author on a few books with her dad (not this one, but later in the series).  Good book, though I didn’t like it quite as much as the first book in the Cadet series.

---

Super Villain Dad (Cape High #1)

R.J. Ross, $0.99

Really a Young Adult novel and only 152 pages, but it was okay. Will probably check out the next in the series whenever I need another change of pace.

---

You may also want to look at my July 2014 Sci-fi & Fantasy reading list.