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I am sure we all have a number of USB Sticks often they have information from vendors of course these may contains ‘cookies’ or much worse but we squirrel away information and data and hope it’s not corrupted when we need it.
Most come as a single solid stick and if we stick in our pockets or bags the contacts are exposed and may pick up dirt, they could rip clothes and maybe worst of all get damaged. Here is a drive that retracts at the push of a button on the side so it’s a flat surface with no contacts exposed, push the grey end and it clicks out ready for use. This unit also has a hole cut in the grey end to allow it to be attached to a key ring.
Can you solve the mystery of missing children as your detective agency sends you to Arbourshire.
No doubt you have heard the story of the travelling entertainer who went from town to town playing his music and telling stories. The entertainer was probably referred to as the Pied Piper with special reference to the location known as Hamlyn. But this time the entertainer is a totally different character who takes on the central role in "Fairy Tale Mysteries - The Puppet Thief", a Hidden Object adventure game developed by Gogii.
Mixing Match-3 game play with Hidden Object and Spot the Difference action is the approach used by Heart of Moon.
While "Heart of Moon - The Mask of Seasons" has been classified as belonging to the Match-3 genre, this offering, developed by UNIKGAME, features Hidden Object scenes, Spot the Difference game play, building restoration and battles to the death. Cast in the role of Clara Edison, your participation in the game starts as you receive a note from your "father" regarding new discoveries about the location of the Mask of Seasons.
A light and full function 1080P notebook that has touch built in so Windows 10 works well, as when it was designed touch was the way it was designed to be used. This notebook is bang up to date and has plenty of memory for you to use.
The Acer Swift 5 measures 31.5x21x1.5cm and weighs 936grams. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 14 inches. It is 1920x1080 (full HD) and while the scale and layout setting comes defaulting to 150% I was perfectly happy at 125% which shows considerably more of any web page. Going around the outside has on the left side, power input, HDMI out, USB3 and USB ‘C’. The right side has 3.
News of agreement between EE and Amazon
Delving into the gaming past reveals a title based on the rescue of a princess integrated into a ship.
With the removal of a zero to avoid any possible confusion with the original series of stories, Alawar has published "1001 - The Adventures of Sinbad". Developed by Mange, this title casts you in the role of Sinbad as you set sail to experience the heroics of this adventure encompassing Hidden Object quests to lift the curse of Princess Chalida. Allowing different players to take part in this game, profiles can be created to store each person's progress.
The latest vacuum cleaner from VAX also handles hard floors. The previous one that I saw was the Blade 2 and there are a number of changes not least is the fact that the battery is removable and can fit all of the latest range of VAX products.
The Vax ONEPWR Blade 4 measures 114cm from the cleaning foot to the top of the handle when stood upright. Unlike the Blade 2 where the power adapter fitted into the top of the handle to charge the fixed battery here in the Blade 4 the battery fits into the unit near the head and clicks out for recharging into an ‘L’ shaped holder for recharge. If you have another of the ONE PWR units from VAX then the batteries are interchangeable so while one is charging another can be in use.
Once again you are called upon to recue those who have fallen under a witch's spell and taken on a different shape.
Developed by Orneon, "Echoes of the Past - The Kingdom of Despair" is a Hidden Object game with a sprinkling of mini game action. The game casts with the task of freeing different characters, who have been trapped by a witch's curse, and locating missing amulets. By completing these tasks you will be rewarded by being presented with a path home. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this game which comes with a number of bonus items found under an Extras section.
In an effort to combat the cold weather, you can deal with the fire-bearing monsters attacking Northpearl.
"Dark Realm - Queen of Flames" is a Hidden Object Adventure game. Developed by Mad Head Games, this offering casts you in the role of Valera, the daughter of the village's Blacksmith. You are set the task of discovering who is in charge of the mysterious floating figures who are attacking and setting fire to the village of Northpearl.
This phone looks like a normal Android Smart Phone but also offers help like extra volume, brighter contrast and larger text all things that help when our bodies start to say that is too hard and best of all a easy to use User Manual that explains everything, perhaps better still all of it is in a single language.
There is a second twelve page guide to WhatsApp something all the kids know about, those in their early working life use all the time, and most retirees shy away from, this can get you into the 2020’s. The phone is 11x5.5x1.8cm when closed, when open it is 21cm, it weighs 111grams. The viewable screen is 7x4cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial screen measurement of 3.2inches.
While there are a number of music streaming services. The two most will have heard of are Spotify and Deezer. Both offer a £9.99 monthly service that enables you to get advert free listening. Both have a very large library of recordings.
So at the £9.99 price point both offer you all the music you want at the touch of a button on your phone, PC, Tablet of even Alexa or Google voice controlled speaker devices. Deezer also have a Hi-Fi mode far higher quality ideal for those audiophiles with good quality speakers or quality headphones this mode is best for those listening on Wi-Fi in your home as the amount of data is far larger. Good quality MP3 the £9.
Instead of wishing on a star, you might prefer to climb a tower for a wish-granting exercise.
By looking carefully in a certain direction, you might, if you were very lucky, see what is referred to as the Tower of God. According to legend, this structure will grant a single wish to whosoever has the skill, ability and desire to climb to the very top of the tower. Ironcode Gaming has taken this belief and turned it into a computer game for those ready to accept the challenge of tackling Match-3 game play in order to have a wish granted.
Pack your bags, you are off to Pompeii to locate a time travelling artefact.
Taking some inspiration from Steven Spielberg's series of cinematic adventures featuring the archaeologist, Indiana Jones, Alawar has published Alabama Smith - Escape from Pompeii. This Hidden Object Adventure title has been developed by Stargaze. Before joining Smith on his adventures that take on the possibility of time travel, you can create profiles to record the progress of individual players and make adjustments to the game playing environment.
This is a small and light notebook from Acer that will easily fit into a bag or backpack for those times when you need to be mobile. However it has a full size keyboard and the screen is 1920x1080 so everything should appear exactly as in the office.
It is 32.5x23.5x1cm the last figure increases to close to 2cm at the back. It weights 1524grams. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal screen measurement of 14inches. While Windows sets the default display at 150% I found 125% was still perfectly usable and the amount displayed on the screen was far more, especially useful when showing web pages. The processor is an Intel i5 running at 1.6GHz. There is 8GB of RAM (7.84GB available).
For those times where a third hand would be useful, well normally that is not possible but with a Popsocket you can keep you phone stabilised and still do those extra things without that third hand, the Popsocket sticks on the back of your phone so one hand may be all you need.
As traditional hard disk drives have grown in size and reduced in price, so SSD products have followed a similar trend
If you are the owner of a smartwatch, what is your favourite feature?
Most people who are getting older know of Doro phones and they are very good when mobility starts to fail. However there is a company who have been around for four years longer and for me anyway remained a total secret before a recent meeting with someone who has worked for several companies who specialize in helping in that sector.
Here I am looking at the FLIP Basic and the Select these are the two smallest phones of the new range I was shown. The Flip Basic is the smallest of the phones and while it does have an ‘assistance’ button the back it is really just a phone and text item. 9.5x5x1.3cm when closed 16x5x.8cm when opened. The screen is 4.5x3.5cm which is 2.2inches. It is . This is the Emporia Select still a Flip open phone it is 10x5x2cm when closed, 19.
Developed by Domini Games, "Spirit Legends - Solar Eclipse" is classified as a Hidden Object game with more than a touch of Adventure style enhancements.
Your role in this game will be to provide assistance in the search for and rescue of Pascal Lebrave before the always hungry Trolls set about making him the main course of their next feast. You will be accompanied in your task by an apprentice, Evelyn, in the noble Order of Monster Hunters of which Pascal is a member. In this game you are on the side of the humans who are constantly at war with the Trolls.
If you use coffee beans then you know that while it’s important to have them reasonably freshly roasted. Far more important is to have them freshly ground so while the ability to roast your own coffee is beyond most of us it is not that difficult to grind the beans as you need it. This grinder from Melitta gives you coffee shop taste without the coffee shop cost per cup.
I am sure we would all prefer to have a machine to do it all and indeed Melitta do several, there are two major drawbacks the space required and the cost. The grinder has a footprint of only 22x7cm and is 37cm tall. It is fitted with a one metre hard wired lead to 13amp plug that emerges from the back base in the middle. The bean hopper is removable and raises the whole by 13cm from the all-important grinder unit.
Usually with Edifier products I check out speakers but this time the product is a set of personal earbuds.
Continuing the trend of doing away with leads, which do have a tendency to become entangled, Edifier has produced its TWS1 offering. This product is a set of "True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds" that are physically untethered when linked to an appropriate audio source. The earbuds come with their own charging case element that can provide up to 32 hours of playtime time for the listener.
How safe is your data and various online activities?
While you may regard your data, whether of the personal or more sensitive type, as sacrosanct to your needs, you can bet others regard it in a more laissez-faire or commercial sense. To them, and I am referring to that unsavoury breed known as hackers here, data is a modern currency used to facilitate deals. Any issues regarding privacy are there to be circumvented by whatever means possible.
It is time to pick up your cards and help a staff member solve a murder.
When I first saw the title of this next game, my initial thoughts were concentrating on the theory that "The Butler did it!". But I was completely off the mark as the Butler, in this case, was the lead investigator in solving the crime in the card game entitled "Detective Solitaire - Butler Story".
While I am not a gamer – my three score and ten and more years – take care of that. You need three things good reflexes, a quality panel with fast refresh rate and good sound, the last mentioned is taken care of by the Firestorm headset.
When you remove the headset from the box you think you have a good headset by the braided lead, the padded headband and earpieces and gold plated connectors. As soon as you plug the 3.5mm lead in and hear the quality your suspicions are confirmed this is quality piece of kit for a very reasonable price. For those who need to communicate a 15cm long microphone is included which plugs into the base of the headset and then twists to a position of your choice.
mperial Island 5 - Ski Resort is a Match 3 game that has been developed by Quick Click Games. As the number "5" of the game's title indicates, this is the latest episode of a series that combines Match 3 game play with buildings and facilities construction.
In this game the Imperial Island forms part of the empire ruled by Emperor Omadan. As any prospective emperor will realise, the demands on their time is extensive and a wise ruler will try to bring joy to their subjects to keep them happy and contented. Emperor Omadan sets out to extend his reign into the neighbouring ice lands of the north by creating a stunning ski resort. You are tasked with completing the Emperor's plans by building the ski resort.
Having recently told you about the Firestorm: H01 here a larger and more complex unit that connects using USB rather than audio sockets. There is a control wheel and microphone control 60cm along the two metre connection lead.
The headset itself is larger and certainly an over ear offering. There is 3cm of expansion in each of the side arms so when fully expanded the distance from the base of the ear cups to the underside of the padded headband is twenty centimetres. If the arms are parallel then there is seventeen centimetres between each earpiece. This is described as a ‘Virtual 7.1 Gaming Headset’ and there is software and a manual online if required.
Watch out, Hackers about and it is up to you to protect your computer data with the appropriate software.
As a young child I can remember playing a game we knew as "Pig-in-the-Middle". Now as an adult, with a thicker waist line and many grey hairs, it seems the situation is returning. I, and many others, find ourselves in the middle of an ongoing battle that is taking place between security companies and those who are intent on infiltrating the computer data and facilities of ours for their own nefarious purposes.
This is designed to collect spills and stains without the need to have a whole room item which is often the reason why professional carpet and floor cleaners exist. That wine stain fully removed along with 99% of any bacteria with this small handheld unit. The other main drawback with the full-size cleaner is where do you put the furniture while you use it.
Don’t get me wrong Vax do full size units which work almost like a vacuum and if you look back you will see reviews from me and they advertise them on TV, this is not designed to replace them but in around two minutes this can be ready to use and almost as soon as that the stain can be removed and it takes the water and cleaning solution back into the machine so you carpet is soon dry, on hard floors its even quicker as whatever is on the sealed floor is taken and the floor is dry again.
Robbing the rich to feed the poor is the aim of the main character in this next game.
With the fairly lengthy title of "The Chronicles of Robin Hood - The King of Thieves", this particular game belongs to the Match 3 genre of challenges. Developed by eFunsoft Games, this offering retells the story of Robin Hood and his band of merry men through a series of Match 3 game play with linking static scenes and accompanying dialogue as you set about helping the citizens of Nottingham by taking down the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham through the five chapters of the game.
A very large and powerful Tower system designed not for gamers – although it’s very fast – but for those Creative People who are not the norm but those who need the power to create their work, this will certainly suit those in that category.
First the dimensions it is 43cm tall, 47cm deep and 20cm wide. It is also quite heavy at around 9kilos. This is the top of the range ConceptD, specifications further down but to let you know now its £2999 link at the end. However you do get a three year warranty. It comes with Windows 10 Pro 64bit. It has an Intel Core i9 running at 3.6GHz.
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