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When your sweetheart is kidnapped by cold-hearted twins, you must defeat the odds with the help of a ferret.
There are “Dark Days to Come” or so warns the subtitle of Witches Legacy. This Big Fish developed game belongs to the Hidden Object Adventure genre of game play. I have been looking at the Collector’s Edition of the game which features a number of bonus items but more on these a little later. As usual with games of this type, profiles can be created to record the progress made by individual players.
This is the second of three cameras from FujiFilm; this is an interchangeable lens camera that made a short visit to me courtesy of a Christmas In July event. Even after nearly two weeks of use I am still barely out of using Auto mode although it has accompanied me on a range of visits while out and about in the course of my travels for a range of events.
The FujiFilm X-T2 measures 15x9.5x12.5cm with the supplied 18>55mm lens fitted fully retracted, it weights 861grams. Like the previous offering it is powerful and really a small professional camera. A thorough read of the manual is a must to do more than use it in Auto mode as anyone who knows a little about cameras will realise that this is something that requires - no demands - respect. It is a 24MP offering also capable of 4K video capture.
As part of its latest range of products, Philips has released a total body shaving device.
With a title that clearly indicates its targeted area, the Philips OneBlade Face + Body product is a shaver whose general appearance might give the impression that this is a manually operated device. However appearances can be deceptive. In fact this particular shaving device, with its offer to trim, edge and shave any length of hair, is a rechargeable battery driven product.
Not something to stick onto your table to roll out the pasta to very thin slices or ribbons but a tool that allows you to put the ingredients into and, out of the unit comes the pasta – and noodles – ready to be cooked and eaten.
If you make pasta you need space and time and also muscles and probably a machine that clips onto the side of a table to pass the dough through several times. Is it worth the time and effort? However if there was a machine that you fed with the ingredients for making pasta and out the other end comes pasta ready to cook then I suspect the answer to my question might well be in the affirmative. It is 35x13.
Christmas is coming and Hamleys has a range of toys waiting to be purchased.
Yes it’s the time of year when lots of software companies vie to be the first to bring their ‘2019’ products to market. Here is one that I use all year not just while I review it and on a couple of occasions when disaster has struck it was there to help.
So let’s start with what is new. First an all in one bootable media and backup tool on an external hard drive which means even if Windows will not boot providing your PC will run past the BIOS this can kick in. Acronis Active Protection now extends to NAS boxes so Ransomware should be held in check.
With the 24V2Q well-known brand AOC offers a 1920x1080 16:9 IPS panel slim-line monitor in a stylish package aimed at those who want reasonable performance without breaking the bank.
Although not noticeable at first glance, the screen tapers from being about 15mm thick at the bottom to about 7.5mm at the top. The glass of the frameless monitor extends right to the edge while the narrow black bezel is only about 5mm wide on three sides and 20mm on the lower edge.
With a mixture of match 3 action and other tasks, this next game sets you the challenge of saving your world.
Described as a magical Match 3 Adventure, Rune Lord is a Unity developed game featuring a battle for who owns the world.
Having given you outline details of what Homni can do and how it links via Bluetooth to Dot/Reston the items that track your sleep quality here I delve deeper which for those like me who sleep badly may give vital helpful information.
With a massive range of toys to select from, Hamleys offers a top 12 list.
While most will know Brando for ‘Everything USB’ they do have other items in their portfolio and here is one a Weather Station complete with an external measure and a plus point over lots of others the internal unit can be both wireless and wired.
This weather station comes with one external sensor as well as the internal unit so you get both internal temperature and humidity readings as well as a four colour weather symbol. The main unit is 14.5x13.5x1.5cm and weights 213grams with three ‘AAA’ batteries inserted. The actual display is 10x8cm. The external unit is 11x5x2cm including its small stand this weights 63grams with two ‘AAA’ batteries inserted.
Long-term illness should not deprive a child from a school-based education.
With all the talk of single use plastic either being phased out or carrying a substantial premium either to the manufacturer or possibly the user an unbreakable reusable water bottle is something that could well get more publicity like the one I was sent here from Ion8.
This is designed primarily for cyclists not least as its dimensions are those that fit in the holder on the cycle frame. It is22cm tall and round at 7cm, its empty weight is 150 grams. The bottle is opaque and is marked on the side in both ml and oz. the former calibrated in 100ml measures with ‘-’ every 50ml up to 650ml, the latter in 4oz marks with ‘-’ every 2oz up to 22oz but in my tests another 50ml or 2oz is easily accommodated.
The Vax Blade 2 Max is a very efficient lightweight A-rated handstick cordless vacuum cleaner with a longer than average runtime. It could well be the only vacuum that a family will need
The unit is grey and black in colour while the dust collecting portions are in clear plastic so it is easy to see the amount of dust that it collects and so know when to empty the machine. Supplied with a wall-mounted docking station it consists of the handheld unit itself, the motorised power head, and the dismountable stick that links the two, together with the crevice and brush additional tools. As a stick machine it weighs 3.1kg and so is easy to use in one hand.
With a touch of New Orleans, this next title asks you to solve various crimes
It is time to step back to the year 1844 and enter the world that encompasses the environment of Lamplight City as developed by Francisco Gonzalez. This is the same person who was also responsible for “A Golden Wake” and “Shardlight”. Set in an alternate steam punk-like Victorian past, the game of Lamplight City is described as a detective adventure played out over various borough areas of this city with its mixed population.
While we have had a wonderful summer this year in the amount of sunlight this is like to cause a greater problem this autumn and winter for those who suffer from problems caused by lack of sunlight or bright light, these is of course a solution.
If you're not careful, a lack of sunlight can actually lead to a form of clinical depression. The less sunlight we see in the winter months, the more likely we are to develop Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Symptoms of SAD can be extreme: mood swings, anxiety, sleep problems, or even suicidal thoughts.
Prepare yourself for a game of arrows – not the throwing kind but more the pull back the draw string and take-out-the-enemy type of weapon.
With this product Thumbs Up! has combined old and modern technology into a product that has been released under its Orb Gaming trademark. The product is entitled the Virtual Archer. Forming the main part of the Virtual Archer product is the collapsible classic bow unit.
The first monitor that I have seen that takes both its power and video signal from a USB ‘C’ port. In fact it has just one connection the USB cable – the other end goes to a USB ‘C’ port on your Notebook or Tablet and an on/off button.
The AOC I1601FWUX portable full HD monitor measures 37x23.5x.7cm and weights 1053grams with prop and USB ‘C’ cable attached so small enough to travel with you. The viewable screen is 34.5x19.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 15.6inches. While the claimed 1920x1080 is of course available the notebook/tablet I did most of my tests with showed 2160x1440 and this reproduced that either landscape or portrait where of course the display was 1440x2160.
Recently, on a visit to Vodafone’s Newbury base I was introduced to a new initiative from the company.
Featured as part of its 2018 Future Ready Event at its Newbury HQ, Vodafone announced a new approach to the way the company planned to sell a range of smartphones. With its distinctive capitalised four letter title of VOXI, this Vodafone inspired service has been designed to be a youth’s mobile brand that is initially being targeted at the under 30 years age group who have specific needs for their mobile world experience.
Doro have been selling their phones in the UK for many years, not only do they do home phones but they also are the premier manufacturer for those with disabilities be that sight or hearing, now they have moved into SmartPhones that look normal but can still offer help but you no longer have a phone that looks like it’s for someone who has a disability.
The Doro 8035 smart phone measures 14.5x7x1cm and weighs 171 grams. The viewable screen is 11x6.4cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5inches. The screen and surround is black while the sides and back are blue grey. Above the screen is the selfie camera. The normal show all, home and back controls are below the screen and do require a press to activate which will take time to adjust to for those coming from a standard SmartPhone.
Having recently told you about a kitchen scale that is treble the normal maximum of 5kilos, another arrives shortly afterwards. This one is from Terraillon and is called The Chef Kitchen Scale and it has an amazing 15 year guarantee.
It is 25.5cm wide, 21cm deep and 2.5cm thick. One reason for the extra thickness is that it uses ‘AA’ batteries rather than ‘AAA’. The actual weighing surface is 22.5x14cm with the central part of the area in the front of this taken by the 9x3cm display. Touch the area to the left side of the display to change the weighing units or to pause the function of the scale.
While oil and water are incompatible, the two major players in the arena of operating systems can co-exist on a single computer as Parallels has proven with its Desktop software.
Firmly established as the top-selling software for running Windows applications on a Mac system, Parallels Desktop is now available in its version 14 offering for the Mac with its 2018 release. As with the previous version of Parallels Desktop, the software does require a MacOS base in order to operate.
One of life’s less arduous tasks is listening to music and streaming music from a site that has a great deal of music in my genre of choice is even better. I have told you about Deezer's normal offering recently. Here is a quality more suited to listening in the home through good quality speakers, this is Deezer Hi-Fi.
Anyone can view the content on Deezer and indeed stream the content in low fi but you will have to put up with adverts after around a couple of tracks and indeed some tracks and even some whole CD’s will be unable to be played.
Following a brief spell in hospital, I decided to embark on a Challenging Journey.
For those like me who find sleeping difficult – even in normal conditions – these two devices can possibly help, Dot or Reston registers your movements and give other statistics while Homni tells you about the room environment and can help with the aid or red light take you to sleep and, in the morning, via white light and alarm to wake you up again, quite a partnership.
The Homni is circular 15cm tall and 10cm across, the bottom 6cm is solid and the top 9cm is open with the light source in it. The top part is opaque and the light source shines through it. There is a digital clock on the front near the top of the base. Power goes into the back and at that point there are two USB ports to allow you to charge devices.
Join the Empire with your camera snapping key-ring.
Like many, no doubt, I can still remember my first encounter with the world of Star Wars, Hans Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and the other iconic characters who existed “A long time ago in a Galaxy far away”. It was a cold Sunday evening as I joined the queue of eager cinema goers to see what the future held for us according to the imagination of George Lucas.
While most will use Parallels on their MAC to give you a virtual Windows Box there are advantages for running a different version of Parallels software on your Windows machine and it can even do things in Windows that cannot otherwise be done natively.
Certain things in Windows are possible but not easy, other things are easy – if you know how – but some things are not possible. Of course if you are a Windows user only you know this and do not even try. Currently it works on Windows 7, 8 and 10 and there are twenty little separate programs.
The Alcatel 5 is a mid-range smartphone with a 5.7 inch 18:9 display that has a reasonable range of features and ticks most of the boxes and so will be an attractive proposition for those on a budget.
The phone which is roughly 150 x 70 x 9mm and weighs 145g has a 5.7 inch edge-to-edge 18:9 screen with 1440 x 720 resolution. Described as Metallic Black its matt black cover with horizontally etched lines provides a firm and comfortable grip while, at the same time, not showing finger marks. The top and bottom strips have a polished chrome effect. On the right hand side is the power button and the volume rocker while, on the other side is the dual SIM carrier.
As a nation of pet lovers, this next game features a case of bird-napping.
Sometimes an outside influence can direct me towards a specific game’s title. In this case it was an article in a daily newspaper reporting on the escapades of a macaw named Jessie. It seems Jessie decided to take a break from her comfy perch and took up residence on a neighbour’s rooftop in Cuckoo Hall Lane – where else would you expect a female bird to decide where to squat even if laying eggs was not on the agenda.
While whatever space you have on your desk will always diminish to the point that things have to be placed elsewhere is a rule, there is a possible solution in the shape of the VariDesk which in effect allows your desk to grow.
While this can even be a solution for those with back problems I would suggest that you get someone to help you put it in place as it is not light in weight and if standing it on your current desk make sure that is able to cope with the extra weight. This is a standing desk which surveys say is a more productive way of working, unlike other such desks this is variable height so tallish or short it should suit you. It arrives in a box that is 1.02 metres x 83 centimetres and 14cm wide.
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