Chess Life

Chess Life is the official magazine of the United State Chess Federation. A serious chess player cannot be without it.

It appeals to all levels of players, both experienced experts and masters as well as beginners. Even elementary school players will find resources here they can use and learn from.

In terms of the quality of production, it is growing and improving and pretty decent now, though that was not always the case before.

While compared to world-wide standards, Chess Life is fairly tame, you will be surprised however, by the amount of politics and jockeying found in the upper levels. FIDE is the real area, to see this at work, but the USCF has it tempests in tea pots as well.

Chess players can be passionate, and while arguing and jockeying for the strength of particular lines of play in analytical variations, combined with arguments over the fairness of tournament settings and how they affect one's country or favorite players, you may feel at times like you're watching a session of the United Nations! Fun, but it can be disconcerting for someone not used to it.

I almost gave it 5 stars, and I wish I could give it 4 1/2, but there's just some room for improvement still and I hope they continue to advance and grow and find some more balance.

I certainly recommend subscribing to it however, if you want to improve and grow in your chess.

This is the best U.S. publication for chess and perhaps the best in the world. I have purchased or subscribed to most chess magazines in the U.S. and have purchased many from other countries as well. This magazine is probably the best for analysis, news, photos, tournaments, etc. You also get this as part of your USCF membership with magazine, a required membership for playing in U.S. rated tournaments. If chess is your game, this is your magazine.

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I love this magazine and find it entertaining! Its also helpful to brush up on various openings. There are numerous exercises and games to study and play through. I particularly like the "Solitaire Chess" game-if you are interested in chess, get a subscription!

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I have wanted to check this magazine out for a long time. I received my first copy long before I thought I would be getting it. Very interesting and informative. Thank you.

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Prudent Speculator

I've been a subscriber to this newsletter since the late 90s. Traditionally, their recommendations have come out about 70/30 winning stocks. However, since the beginning of 2011, the losers have been outnumbering the winners substantially, and this is in a period when the Dow and the Nasdaq indices were up. Even with a few stellar performers, their overall performance in recommended buys has been fading. I will not be renewing my subscription.

What a dolt "Busy Guy" must be. He buys one stock, loses money, and says the system doesn't work. Get a brain. The Prudent Speculator, John Buckingham & company, clearly shows that about thirty percent of the recommended stocks will not turn out well, which is why they insist that at least twenty different stocks are a minimum (personally, I have over one hundred in my portfolio following their advice very successfully over fifteen years, thank you). That being said, you also have to do your homework to make sure that you have a well diversified portfolio based on industry segments and capitalization ranges.

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I would recommend this subscription to anyone who wants to be a value investor, but, you have to do your own research. After all, it's your money your investing. This is not for momentum investors. You buy the stock when it is out of favor and wait until Mr. Market figures out it is undervalued. Sometimes you have to wait a while. Sometimes it doesn't pan out, but, if you buy stocks that pay dividends and take the dividends in new shares, you can be rewarded well over a period of 3 years or so. OK, from 2001 till 2008 the market sucked. That happens.

A couple weird things to point out. I signed up at the end of May and they gave me 12 issues ending my subscription at the beginning of the next May. I guess they don't count the weekly updates as a part of the subscription. You get 12 subscriptions, but only 11 months of advice.

Also, if you go to this link, https://tps.magazinemanager.com/subscribe/subscribe_renewOnlineCF_TPS_Custom.asp?renew=&source=website , you can renew for 2 years at a discount, something that is not offered through AMAZON. Wish it was.

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I bought this publication. It touted a bank stock as one of the 2 best stocks one month to buy saying it didn't have any 'toxic' loans. I bought it. Turns out it had lots of bad real estate loans. Another bank finally took if over. Lost most of my money. So much for the research of high paid professionals.

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Country Sampler

I ordered this for my mother, a crafter, through Amazon. Although the expected arrival date was projected to be 8-12 wks after ordering, and thus missing her birthday, the magazines began arriving almost immediately. Plus, as a crafter, she really rates these magazines highly.

I did not order my subscription from Amazon, I ordered it directly from Country Sampler, and then I received a renewal notice. My customer information was given to a publishing company. They sent a renewal reminder to me with my account number and expiration date of subscription, from Country Sampler, to renew my current subscription of two years. I paid the money and six months later, still had not received my magazine. Country Sampler was not willing to help me in any way, even though the magazine obviously provided my information to this company.

Obviously provided, because, how else did they know my subscription expiration, name, address, and account number for the subscription? I had to call daily, talk to gum chewing women on the other end who had no clue, file many complaints, and sent certified mail, in order to get my refund. All I wanted from the beginning was the six issues I paid for,but I never received any of them. I even had the cancelled check. I was furious. I absolutely refuse to ever order from them again, especially since they did not care to look into the matter, make it right, or help me in any way. How many people were not persistent like I was and lost the money they sent? This magazine is not cheap. Never, never again, will I order this magazine. Be very cautious if you do, I hope this helps people from the hassle I went through. Don't get me wrong, it's a great magazine, but be aware of where it comes from.

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I am very pleased with the Country Sampler magazine I recieved through Amazon. It has lots of good ideas as well as products to order.I will consider ordering other magazines with them.

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If you love "country" style decorating this is the magazine for you. I love it. They feature amazing homes all decorated beautifully. I get many ideas for my house from this magazine. Well worth the price. I just renewed for another year. One of my favorites.

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I am a country girl and am so glad they have this magazine. Country Sampler is a fun and up to date magazine. Not only can you get great country ideas you can also find the best decor. Love this magazine wish they had one every month.

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Believer

Their Web site sells a year subscription for $45. I find that Amazon, or whoever their affiliate is, repeatedly sells magazine subscritions for more than the actual magazine itself.

I feel like the word "magazine" nominally cheapens the value of The Believer, for it is nothing like what I've come to know as a magazine. What do I mean?

1. There are no advertisements, at all

2. There are almost no photographs, although there are many drawings

3. The story topics are seemingly disparate, yet each tends to relate itself somehow to literature

4. The cover and pages are quality paper and binding, not some flimsy, glossy mess bound with a few staples

Without a doubt, this is my favorite periodical. Each article is stimulating in its own right, even if the topic itself is not interesting.

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Yep, pretension is the name of game here. Although it's not really pretension its a kind of uber-pretense, a pretension so pretensive in its self-mockery that it somehow doubles back itself and actually becomes almost worthwhile.

Almost.

The cutesiness of the verbal ticks (each article, for example, is prefaced with a distinctly unnecessary list of issues which will be "discussed")are so studious in their avoidance of any level of seriousness as to be nearly embarassing. The quality of writing is, as one might imagine, mixed. The book reviews are hilariously unimformative, and yet again one suspects this is done on purpose. How gauche do we readers need to be to want to find out what a book is about from a review! Or whether not the book is worth reading! How pedestrian! Pul-ease!

All in all one walks away with the distinct impression that to spend more than 5 minutes in conversation with the Believer (or the McSweeny's) crowd would be an unavoidable prelude to a grisly murder-suicide. Simultaneously brilliant and annoying, The Believer is the sort of thing that people who like this sort of thing will certain like. And even then in small doses, I suspect.

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If you want to read one of the most interesting, quirky, insightful and well-written magazines about books and literature being published today, this baby is for you. One of my favorite pieces in the first issue was Heidi Julavits's right-on critique of modern book reviewing. And the interviews of Susan Straight and Galen Strawson were magnificent! As for the design: first rate. So, I am now a believer...and a subscriber.

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How I love you so. The Believer is the latest periodical to begin publishing under the McSweeney's line, a line which includes work by Dave Eggers, Neal Pollack, Rick Moody, and the superfine McSweeney's itself, another journal of stupefying literary proportions. The Believer takes up the nonfiction wing of the building -book reviews, trends, music, interviews, et cetera amen -but does it like no other. These cats do it with style, approaching old subjects from different angles, new perspectives, an insouciant wit, and good old-fashioned gumption, the kind all our grampas talk about. You know.

The articles are smart, the interviews actually interesting, the divergences diverging, and with that Spartan sense of design and oh-so luscious Charles Burns illustrations, The Believer has now become the only periodical I want to make babies with.

Get a subscription. You have your orders.

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Guitar Player (1-year auto-renewal)

I've been subscribing for a couple of years now. The quick laundry list:

1. My favorite bit is there tends to be a diverse selection of guitar players and lessons. One month may be jazz heavy, another may be blues heavy, and sometimes there is even some punk/metal stuff thrown in. As a player I enjoy blues and metal, but I enjoy the diversity as it spawns ideas. Also note that while there are main stream guitarists covered there are also a lot of more obscure folks covered as well.

2. Yes there are a lot of ads. Show me a magazine that isn't loaded with ads these days tho'.

3. Yes there are a lot of gear reviews. Great if you're a gear head not so good if you could care less. Usually at least 50% reviews 50% lessons, sometimes more on the review side.

4. I've been playing for a few years now and find most of the lessons are generally intermediate to advanced and assume you are fairly well versed in music theory. I don't count myself as an extraordinary guitar player though. I ended up buying a few music theory books to help me understand the lessons after a few issues. Frustrating but a great challenge!

5. No there are no tabs of the latest or oldest hits out there. Everything in this magazine revolves around learning to make music, not copy somebody else note for note.

All in all a decent enough magazine. I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 just because I'm a bit against all the gear reviews and the lessons are sometimes too brief or vague to be useful for me.

When GP started publication there wasn't anything else to compete with it. Now the aspiring youg guitarist has his or her pick of guitar mags, full of tab transcriptions of the latest hits and fawning interviews with pretentious guitar heros.

GP has tried to stand out form these magazine by being more about music and equipment, and to have a broader view of guitar playing, and to an extent is has succeeded. You're far more likely to find a profile of an intersting Flamenco or Brazilian guitarist in GP than in one of the other mags, and while you won't find fully tabbed out songs, GP is far more likely to deliver an article that goes into some depth on theory and application. In that sense, GP is more for musicians, and the other guitar magazines are mostly for teens looking to cover their favorite bands.

GP isn't always great. Some issues are completely devoid of anything that interests me, and there's far too much punk and shred guitar for my tastes. But a subscription is ridiculously cheap; I don't mind if I only find something of use in as few as half the issues I receive.

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I've subscribed to Guitar Player for a little over a year now. It seems like a great magazine that attempts to cover all of the bases of guitar playing. It has reviews and interviews with everyone from pretentious guitar heros to down-to-earth acoustic players and punk rockers. There are quite a lot of ads but they are expected for such a magazine. There are CD reviews based off of the guitarist's aspect also.

Although there are not complete song tabs there is a section that aims to improve aspects of guitar playing taught by acomplished musicians (Rusty Cooley, Robben ford, and some more). I personally prefer this over full song transcriptions because these improve personal playing instead of simply copying what some other muscian has done; thereby leaving room for innovation instead of emulation.

This magazine has a lot to cover, so it tries to be eclectic and thorough. It interviews and examines classic rock, jazz, acoustic, classical and metal guitarists.

This is great for those that are serious about guitar playing. For the casual, MTV based guitar player, Guitar World is probably a better magazine for you.

If you are truely serious about a specific type of guitar playing. You would do better to pick up a magazine solely about your style of guitar playing (ex. Acoustic Guitar magazine).

Pros: A thorough magazine that covers most if not all aspects of guitar playing.

Cons: There are too many ads and the products that are reviewed are generally too expensive for the average guitarist (it's at least too much for me to care)

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I've subscribed to this magazine since the 1970's. For a lot of that time, it was the only guitar magazine widely available. It provided a great deal of instructional content, especially the columns which ran for years, and which were like taking monthly lessons from top players.

Unfortunately, the instructional content is an afterthought these days, relegated to a few quick one page riff ideas by random people each month. The magazine is almost totally consumed by "gear reviews", of which they seem quite proud. It's obviously an attempt to stay on the good side of all the equipment manufacturers who buy advertising. I'm profoundly bored with all the equipment content. The articles and interviews with players are getting shorter and shorter. The unspoken message seems to be "Don't worry about learning how to play what you have, just get out there and buy more stuff."

Their choices of cover artists are also getting more and more "flavor of the month"-oriented (when they aren't showing equipment on the cover). They'll run very short articles on great players, then give the cover and longest article to someone more known for their sense of fashion or appearances in celebrity gossip columns than for their guitar playing.

And don't get me started on their editor's monthly sermon on how we should all be out there creating "great art". Zzz...

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Having played on and off for over 35 years, this is a great magazine if you're heavily in the "on" mode but is very high end if you're trying to make your way back from "off" to "on". I tend to prefer "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" but that reflects my rock orientation and need for simpler explanations even after all these years.

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Truck Trend (1-year auto-renewal)

I bought this title thinking it had nothing to do with cars and only trucks. Since it is a sister publication to Motor Trend, I should have known. I just received my first copy. It is full of crossover SUV's CUV's,etc. WHY? They try to justify it buy saying that these models have grown bigger and thus should be included? Come on, you ALREADY have a car mag to include them in. When I guy a truck mag, I buy it for truck content. My guess is that it is so thin with only truck stuff, that they have to pad it with car stuff just so they can sell it.

Because of the bi-monthly printing the "news" of this publication is hardly up to date. I have a suggestion; go monthly and get a better pulse on the market.

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You want a answer to a question about trucks? You'll learn so much every time you open the cover, you won't want to put it down. The pictures are awesome but the hard questions, answers and ideas will keep you coming back...........

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Truck Trend offers many of the same advantages as Motor Trend, as these sister publications cover an enormous inventory of vehicles retailed here and abroad. This is a must have at $10/yr, and with Amazones relationships with many businesses and publishers, they offer a $5 GC on some great automobile monthlies. I have been a subsciber to both C & D, M. T, and now Truck Trend for in excess of 5-yrs, and the others, C & D, Motor Trend, etc for close to 12-yrs. They al have their specialty as to why I subscribe to each, together they really keep the auto enthusiast on the edge of their seat and in close contact with their banker/credit provider as the selection annually of auto's to purchase just keeps getting BETTER!

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I wish they published this magazine every month even though I don't rate the magazine all that high.. The magazine has pretty heavy coverage on pickup trucks and skimpy coverage of crossovers and SUVs. In their latest issue they did a "best of" SUV review but didn't consider scores of popular SUV models in their ranking. For this they get two stars out of five.

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New England Home (1-year auto-renewal)

New England has a high-caliber magazine that showcases fine architecture and design. Geared to the affluent homeowner, each issue of NEW ENGLAND HOME features page after page of beautifully photographed homes and the stories of their creators. Whether you live in the home of your dreams or aspire to, NEW ENGLAND HOME is a welcome and long overdue magazine devoted exclusively to New England.

A wonderful resource for anyone interested in creating a beautiful home.

Not only the articles and many pictures, but also the ads, provide a wealth of information over a broad range of subjects and tastes. A must have if you are thinking of building in the New England region.

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Not expensive. Not much I'm interested in. Very expensive homes shown in this magazine. Would prefer New England homes of age. Antique, historical homes. Cottage and beach houses that look lived in. Too many ads.

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I was very disappointed with this magazine. It has more advertisements than articles. Each issue has full page ads and maybe a very articles. Not worth the money. They should pay you for it.

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This magazine is inspirational. It is targeted for homeowners in the New England area as most of the advertisements inside are from either national companies or businesses that operate and specialize in the New England area. I live in Southern California but I love the look of New England style homes. This magazine provides in depth articles about designs from the very classic to the very modern, from new builds to remodels, from interior to exterior design. And I just love gazing at and admiring all the stunning photography. It gives me so many ideas on how I can make my home look and feel more like the majestic homes on the east coast.

I subscribed when Amazon offered the one-year subscription for $5. How can you beat that?

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Outburn

Of all the music orientated magazines that I subscribe, Outburn is my personal favorite. This is the only magazine that caters to my favorite music...techno, goth, and industrial music. Rolling Stone stopped being relevant 10 years ago. Spin magazine is a joke. Alternative Press is also a joke and has stopped being relevant many, many moons ago. I discovered Outburn when I saw an article on one of my personal favorite bands of all time, VNV Nation. Rolling Stone, Spin, and AP wouldn't touch VNV Nation with a ten foot pole because it isn't popular with the brainwashed masses. That was last year. Since then, I have been a loyal reader as well as a loyal subscriber to the quarterly magazine. What appeals to me the most about Outburn is that the magazine covers more than just goth and industrial music but also lesser known metal bands like Lacuna Coil and Opeth. I'm not a metal fan by a long shot but it is refreshing to read a magazine in which heavy metal bands are the [pooh] that MTV and Clear Channel, er, radio plays non-stop (i.e Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit). Outburn covers lesser known metal bands that MTV wouldn't dare play except maybe on the new incarnation of "Headbanger's Ball". I also enjoy the original questions the writers throws at the artists and bands they interview. They also don't sound patronizing or condescending one bit. And unlike Spin magazine which has now become a forum for video games and fashion as opposed to music, Outburn sticks to what it knows best which is music. Although Marilyn Manson is on the cover of the new issue of Outburn, at least I can be grateful that the editors didn't throw Good Charlotte on the cover. Another thing I love about Outburn is the free cd offer for subscribers. Nothing beats like a free cd. My only problem with Outburn is that it is a quarterly magazine, not a monthly magazine. I wish that rags like AP, Spin, and RS were quarterly magazines and Outburn were monthly but for all its worth, at least Outburn is reliable in terms of quality articles and doesn't insult my intelligence by throwing Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera on the cover like RS did recently. Outburn is truly one of the few magazines that I can enjoy reading word for word.

Outburn Magazine is one of the best rock metal magazines there is in the u.s.a. Outburn has great written reviews on new CD releases. They have great interviews with bands. The magazine is great for people who like newer music more than older. Outburn is more focused on newer bands, overall it's a great read. The only downfall is the magazine only comes out 5 times a year, witch is a bummer for me. The subscription is great, you get the newest issue about a week before newsstands, and you get a free CD all for $10.95.

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I recently picked up, and decided to subscribe to OutBurn Magazine after being completely blown away by the content. Each page contains in depth coverage of multiple bands. One issue of OutBurn magazine will usually cover dozens of bands with exclusive interviews in regards to upcoming events for each band mentioned within the multiple articles.

The articles are very well written, and truly allow the musical fans to get a better understanding of their favorite artists/groups. With content including album reviews (usually over 100 reviews per issue) the magazine is sure to please music fans of modern music. The album reviews allow readers to discover new bands and albums that they might not have otherwise checked out on their own, due to the fact that OutBurn makes sure to fully display what genres each album falls into (in many cases multiple genres). This allows a reader to locate albums based upon favorite genres, and give the band a listen and discover whether they like the band or not.

OutBurn is extremely informative, and truly beneficial in getting to know more about bands and albums, and music in general. The magazine covers multiple genres, from: Black Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, Grind, Metalcore, Nu Metal, Industrial, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, Melodic/Gothenburg Metal, and even Alternative bands. The variety is well distributed, and the massive amount of album reviews is truly beneficial in lending a hand in the process of discovering new music based upon pre-existing musical tastes. The subscription comes with a free CD, based upon the available albums currently up for selection at the time of the subscription process. Overall, I am very pleased with this magazine, and I look forward to future issues to add to the ones I already own.

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I used to love Outburn magazine. I first discovered it when I came across the mag at a local mainstream bookstore chain. The first thing I saw on the cover was VNV Nation. I bought that issue and soon after that I ordered a subscription. What I loved about Outburn at the time was that the magazine covered artists and bands that aren't covered in the mainstream music magazines, namely those in the goth, EBM, synthpop, and industrial scene. Unfortunately within the next year and a half, the magazine started covering less of those types of bands and more death metal bands and hardcore punk bands, two genres I don't give a rat's behind about. I don't know WTF happened at the magazine but they stopped covering anything goth and industrial related and started covering more music I would much rather have my ears ripped off by pliers than listen to (death metal and emo). Just like Alternative Press, Outburn started out as a cool mag but now they have become a joke and more about following than setting trends.

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Of all the music orientated magazines that I subscribe, Outburn is my personal favorite. This is the only magazine that caters to my favorite music...techno, goth, and industrial music. Rolling Stone stopped being relevant 10 years ago. Spin magazine is a joke. Alternative Press is also a joke and has stopped being relevant many, many moons ago. I discovered Outburn when I saw an article on one of my personal favorite bands of all time, VNV Nation. Rolling Stone, Spin, and AP wouldn't touch VNV Nation with a ten foot pole because it isn't popular with the brainwashed masses. That was last year. Since then, I have been a loyal reader as well as a loyal subscriber to the quarterly magazine. What appeals to me the most about Outburn is that the magazine covers more than just goth and industrial music but also lesser known metal bands like Lacuna Coil and Opeth. I'm not a metal fan by a long shot but it is refreshing to read a magazine in which heavy metal bands are the [pooh] that MTV and Clear Channel, er, radio plays non-stop (i.e Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit). Outburn covers lesser known metal bands that MTV wouldn't dare play except maybe on the new incarnation of "Headbanger's Ball". I also enjoy the original questions the writers throws at the artists and bands they interview. They also don't sound patronizing or condescending one bit. And unlike Spin magazine which has now become a forum for video games and fashion as opposed to music, Outburn sticks to what it knows best which is music. Although Marilyn Manson is on the cover of the new issue of Outburn, at least I can be grateful that the editors didn't throw Good Charlotte on the cover. Another thing I love about Outburn is the free cd offer for subscribers. Nothing beats like a free cd and for less than ten dollars. One of the problems I have with Outburn is that it is a quarterly magazine, not a monthly magazine. I wish that rags like AP, Spin, and RS were quarterly magazines. I also wish that they covered less death metal and punk bands nad cover more synthpop/EBM acts like they did a few years when I first started reading the magazine (thanks to the VNV Nation article). I really don't want to see Outburn turn into something wretched like "Alternative Press" did over the years with the pseudo punk movement. Outburn is now endanger of becoming like AP but instead with death metal bands. I am lucky to even read one lousy article about an artist/band that is geared towards my taste (synthpop, EBM, industrial, goth, darkwave). I like reading the record reviews but even they are starting to look stale like the rest of the magazine.