My best friend who I never see (she lives in LA, I live in the UK) sent me a metallic purple mug in the mail one day, it glittered like a Christmas bauble and was near double size, holding nearly a pint of coffee. Of course it’s ruined now. I live in a shared house with a bunch of people to whom the dishwasher is known as “The Magic Washing Up Cupboard” so I guess they didn’t understand the legend printed on the bottom of the mug ‘do not place in dishwasher’ and went ahead and did exactly that.

My once glittering mug is now bland and grizzled with a few specks of metallic paint still clinging to it in heroic defiance. I don’t know who did it and they’re never going to own up. It’s just one of those things you have to put up with living in shared housing; cheap accommodation, no lack of company and all your nice stuff knackered.

When I was younger I had a particularly creative bent and one of the things I used to like to make was modelling clay lighter covers. The clay was a product called Fimo, you make your creation and then fire it in the oven so it goes hard. The covers I made came in the form of monsters, I’d make them for friends as they were cheap and every one was individual. I guess they were a good idea too because I heard about some-one who had tried to copy the idea, unfortunately it hadn’t occurred to them that they would need to take the monster off of the lighter before they fired it. They’d only been making one at the time so the explosion wasn’t so big, just a very loud bang and a terrible smell of burning plastic.

Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who had been to a shopping center or turned on a television in the last week has noticed the seasonal ads cropping-up. “Holiday shopping” begins earlier and earlier. Some consumers begin shopping as soon as stores start decorating with candy canes, other hold off until it gets deeper into the season. Either way, businesses use their most ruthless sales techniques in the winter and even if you aren’t shopping everyone starts building a little fantasy wish list in their heads.

The toys and gadgets that adults will be hoping for are pretty different than what kids want to find under the tree, but they are no less cool and often have even more bells and whistles. Whether they are more everyday appliances like stoves and microwaves or seasonal needs like fans and space heaters there are plenty of new appliances that will have adults jumping up and down too.

Read the rest of this entry »

While take up of mobile broadband has been strong on the UK, some people still don’t feel they really have a need for it. But if you’re a blogger, it’s safe to say that if you’re not getting online on the move, you’re probably missing out.

Ways To Get Online

There are two key ways to get yourself online on the move, the most common now being via a smartphone. It’s fair to say that the rise and rise of apps has been a massive boon for bloggers, and not only for the social networking opportunities that constant access to the likes of Twitter brings.

Blog sites have been quick to embrace the technology, with the likes of WordPress, Tumblr and Squarespace having dedicated apps so that you can blog on the go. You can also easily take pretty decent snaps with your smartphone, and then get them online straight away.
Read the rest of this entry »

Image by Blazing Minds via Flickr

Yesterday was a major day for those of us who have BlackBerry smartphones and I don’t just mean the ones that have them because of the name, but those that use the phones to communicate with work colleagues and receive emails that are used for business and much more.

BlackBerry Server Crashes!!!

So yesterday the BlackBerry server in Slough crashed causing services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to have some down town, 20 hours to be exact, and this caused  problems for those using their BlackBerry phones for emails and messaging etc that run on the RIM server.

Lo And Behold A Second Crash!!

So early this morning it was announced that the BlackBerry server was back online, yippee and there was much rejoicing:

Read the rest of this entry »

The new Facebook timeline will set up all of our digital messages, links, and music into one easy to view profile website. While the morality of posting everything you’ve ever done on the social network is somewhat questionable, there is no doubt that the site has become a virtual history book for our online lives.

If other companies started using technology like the timeline, Americans would become more proficient and informed consumers. The technology could also increase our education levels by creating more detailed progress reports for students, parents, and teachers to gauge. Here are a couple of the industries that could benefit their products with timeline social networks:

Read the rest of this entry »

Many people are thinking themselves lucky to have a job at the moment. Having a job is the new payrise for many people but then there are the others. Those others include the people who can afford to buy the Colosseo Oro by Marazzi Design. This fitted kitchen comes in a limited edition of ten and costs £300,000. More than the price of the average house in the UK.

Do people who can afford to spend that kind of money on a kitchen actually spend any time cooking? Or have they just bought their cook a really blinging workspace? The designers say that the target market for this object of desire is a confident, social food lover at the top end of the market who lies to entertain and make a statement. So, not people who think you can measure taste in pounds shillings and pence then? Paul Marazzi says not. Owner of the kitchen design firm who created this Sardanapalian scullery, Paul says that any kitchen’s value shouldn’t be judged  monetarily. It should have “a soul and a presence, transforming the room into an emotional experience” which will be a “celebration of family life and convivial living.” And there I was attempting to microwave a ready meal!

Read the rest of this entry »

OFFER NEVER TO BE REPEATED. SO GET YOUR COPY NOW!!!

OK fellow bloggers today is the day and CommentLuv Premium gets it official launch and Andy Bailey, creator of the immensely popular CommentLuv plugin, has decided that CommentLuv Premium will be available for only 7 days for an amazingly low price!

Complete madness!!!

So now is the time to get your hands on what has become a a buzz amongst bloggers, including myself, that have been using CommentLuv Premium as it went through its BETA stage and believe me it’s fantastic

Read the rest of this entry »