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871224 serif affinity designer workboo

Affinity Designer Workbook

I love manuals, and of course with most software been sold as downloads the best you get today is a PDF file which also needs to be downloaded. Serif software have been around for 29 years and they have recently produced Affinity Designer firstly for MAC and now for the PC, this is their workbook a heavy hard backed tome.
The front cover puts it well ‘learn digital design and illustration with Affinity Designer’. The book is 20.5x23.5x2.7cm and it weighs 1.47kilos. Unusual perhaps to give the dimensions and weight of a book but then it does give me a chance to get over this is a textbook written by the team at Serif who will be thirty years young next year.
With in-car phone use being upgraded regarding penalty points, this next product could be worth a purchase.
While some other companies may have a wider choice of models from more companies AO have a big plus in that they offer next day delivery by their own vans, you are rung on the day and yes they deliver when they say they will. Another plus their prices are very keen.
This toaster is called ‘Bit More’ as it allows you to just add a little more colour to your toast without starting the whole process again. Heston Blumenthal is a chef whose restaurant is always full; his name is linked to a lot of unusual dishes cooked in strange ways.
While flash drives are useful for transporting data, they do run the risk of being lost or stolen. So the data they contain should be protected.
Your data, especially of the personal variety, is valuable, not only to you but others who might be prepared to put it to use for their own nefarious practices.  As this data is your personal property, it is up to you to make sure it is adequately protected at all times whether it is stored on your main computer or being transported between locations on a flash drive.
An orphan girl finds herself in a magical land that has been taken over by a witch. She needs your help.
Our story begins as a baby is left of the doorstep of the St. Michael’s Shelter, a rather dreary establishment that is the local orphanage.  A quick jump forward in time of ten years reveals that the baby has grown into a young girl called Evy whose best, and possible only friend, is her teddy bear.  While exploring the orphanage, Evy enters the attic where she finds a wardrobe.  This piece of furniture emits a strange glow as its doors swing open.
871003 360glasses Virtual Reality Glasse

Virtual Reality Glasses

When I asked to review this I assumed that it would arrive assembled, wrong. They state use by children 14 and above, OK. You need patience to assemble and above all follow the illustrations that form the vast proportion of the instructions.
It was a good job they arrived disassembled as the postman put them through my letterbox on a day I was out and certainly if they had of been assembled it would have meant a journey to sorting office to collect.
Offering a variety of tools to protect your home is Devolo’s Home Security system.
Recently I took a look at Devolo’s Home Security System.  The product was the Devolo Starter Pack.  As its title indicates, this is an opening gambit to encourage the user to take their first steps on the path to using technology as a protective shield for their home.
Firstly a set of earbuds from probably the biggest name in Reggae, Bob Marley who has a whole range of audio products in his name. Second an item that arrived without request or documentation but something that might be of use when away from electrical power a Solar Charger.
Bob Marley a huge name in pop was always very distinctive and so are his earbuds with their bright colour cords and red and green earbuds but for most what matters is the sound and not the look so what do these earbuds offer. A 1.5metre long from the wood backed earbuds to the L shaped 3.5mm adapter. 15cm down from the left earbud is the 2cm long control and then another 15cm to the connection where the too cords become one for their 1.2metre journey to the L shaped 3.5mm plug.
871002 mcafee live safe device securit

McAfee Security

Yes security software is almost as boring as backup software but both are nevertheless essential software in the world we currently live in as there are vast numbers of people making their living from defrauding innocent people of their data and money.
Almost all new PC’s and notebooks/tablets come with a limited time trial of Anti-Virus or more likely full Internet protection software and most of those that I see seem to be a version of McAfee. McAfee now part of Intel called Intel Security they do four versions, first McAfee Anti-Virus which covers you from most Virus attacks and helps keep you clear of dangerous web sites.
With this next product I had to combine the roles of a reviewer and a brother.
It began, as can sometimes happen, with a telephone call.  This was not the usual type of phone call with a PR agency asking if I would be interested in reviewing a product from one of their clients.  Instead this was a call from one of my sisters to inform me that her desktop computer was playing up in various ways and she was ringing to ask for my help.

Two Olympus Items Joined

Over the last few months I have told you about the new small LS-P2 PCM Recorder and also the Olympus OM-D camera. So here finally is the meeting of the two parts connected by a standard audio cable and an adapter that fits into the camera shoe so you can have brilliant audio linked to your videos.
Adding to its portfolio of graphics software, Serif has developed an application that can run on the Mac and Windows platforms.
Developed by Serif, Affinity Designer first saw the light of day as a Mac product.  More recent development has seen the product make the journey over to the Windows platform.  Affinity Designer describes itself as a personal vector design application that contains pixel-based textures and retouching capabilities.
Mixing forward planning, strategy and aiming skills, this next game sets you task of defeating darkness.
The Sparkle series of titles, developed by 10tons, belong to the Match-3 Shooter gaming genre.  Starting with the original offering of Sparkle, the game developed into Sparkle 2, hardly the most inspiring naming of a game, before the subject of this review, Sparkle Unleashed, made its appearance.  This title places the player in charge of an orb shooting apparatus in an effort to save a world from the evil that has spread over the land.
871000 netgear orbi wifi networ

Orbi from Netgear

If I said Master Socket few would know I was referring to how your Ethernet connection should be connected, if you have problems with slow speed or lots of time your line drops it’s the first thing the phone engineer will talk about.
It seems that the only thing that should connect to your Master Socket is your Modem or Modem/Router. Phones should only connect via secondary sockets, of course this is not a problem if everything connects via Wi-Fi and everything is well in range. Only once you satisfy these criteria will BT or whoever your ISP is will then look to see if the problem is elsewhere. A pair of Orbi routers can be the answer, in my case they are.
Are you into action water sports? If so you might be interested in this net product.
I have to admit to a certain degree of surprise at the continued appearance of devices designed to enhance the capture of Selfies and the like either with or without an accompanying celebrity, location or action that might hold some significance.  When this vanity capturing phenomena first burst on to the scene, I regarded it as one that would quickly disappear as people became bored with the activity.
This is a small Bluetooth speaker from a company with a good reputation for sound quality. However they also have another less desirable reputation – for me anyway - that of their boxes having to be destroyed to get the contents out of them.
The Barricade Bluetooth Speaker from Skullcandy measures 12x10x7.5cm and weights 510grams, the last figure could be important as it has a fabric thumb loop to enable use while on the move. It should be drizzle proof – I try to say that rather than shower as some might consider shower to mean what occurs in the bathroom – with a rubber bung covering external connections.
870998 Kaspersky Total Security 201

Kaspersky 2017

Anti-Virus software was developed in response to people who wanted to harm your computer, then it was the whole Internet Security thing with people trying to get at your money, now the latest Kaspersky suite focuses on protecting your children from harm.
As with most recent products this is multi-platform which means not only your PC – or MAC – but also your SmartPhone and Tablet or Notebook in fact most things that connect to the outside world. So count up the number of devices you need to cover before you buy as Kaspersky have versions for 1, 3, 5 or 10 devices. No longer do you purchase a ‘boxed copy’ or as in this case a DVD cased copy because what is inside is a credit card.
Having purchased a LeapFrog tablet for your child, you might be interested in card sets designed for use with the LeapPad tablet.
Adding to its portfolio of apps for its LeapPad range of tablet devices for young children, LeapFrog has developed its Imagicard products.  Currently there are three titles making up this series.  These offerings are entitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Letter Factory Adventure and Paw Patrol – To the Rescue.
At this time of year a lot of people just forget their gardens, nothing much grows even the weeds call a truce. So here something for those who cannot leave well alone a garden blower to move those leaves around and regiment them in neat piles.
Designed specifically for young children, the LeapPad takes a walled-garden approach to the access and content available to its users.
As the combination that makes up its title of LeapPad and Platinum might indicate, this particular LeapFrog product is the company’s top-of-the-range tablet aimed at the younger members of the family.  In fact LeapFrog has pitched this tablet, with its collection of facilities that include WiFi connectivity, built-in stylus, front and rear cameras and a rechargeable battery, at the 3 – 9 year age group.
Are you up to defeating an enemy who controls floating figures with staring eyes? If so then be prepared to fight the flames.
Developed by Mad Head Games, Dark Realm: Queen of Flames is a Hidden Object Adventure game.  I have been looking at the Platinum or Collector’s version of the game.  This version comes with a number of extra items whose access will depend upon the progress made within the main game and bonus chapter.
870997 ASUS VivoWatch Smart Watch with Heart Rate and Activity Tracke

ASUS VIVO Watch

Wrist watches are less popular now than at any time since people stopped using a pocket watch. However fitness devices worn on the wrist are now so popular that the fact they also tell the time is perhaps often overlooked by many.
The Asus VivoWatrch measures is 3.5x4.5x1cm and weights only 48grams with the attached strap.
Do you control your home? Or does it control you? Devolo believes it can put you in the driving seat.
Technology, in its many guises, aims to improve the quality of the standard of living of users through the use of device that might bear the appendage of “Smart”.  No I am not referring to smartphones, although they could have a part to play, but the creation of a smart home where devices can be set to remotely control aspects of a personal living environment.
870686 HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Wide Format All in One Printe

HP OfficeJet Pro 7740

Having recently told you about an A3 printer that was little bigger than an A4 unit here this is not only larger and faster it has two built in paper trays and can easily serve a whole office via Wi-Fi and Ethernet and even print remotely.
The HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 is an All In One that means not only, Print, Scan, Copy but also for those who need it Fax. It is 58x48x38cm and if you use the flatbed a little more space is needed on top of the last figure but unless you use it under the eaves this will not be a problem as few shelves will be able to cope with its 19.5 kilo weight. It has four inks the three colours are as supplied stated to last 640 pages and the black to last 1000 pages.
870684 Avantree Sweatproof Wireless Running Headphone

Avantree Jogger Plus

A set of earbuds that stay in place even during exercise and while they are not tiny they can be close to invisible if you have long hair as they fit in then tuck over the ear and behind the neck to complete the connection at the other ear and they are of course Bluetooth.
Bluetooth just got a whole lot more important as if you have an iPhone 7 you no longer have a 3.5mm socket to plug into. Bluetooth has another advantage in that your phone can be in a bag or purse and of course with the long hair scenario already mentioned no one need know you are even listening to music.
The Toshiba Canvio Alu portable USB 3.0 hard drives, which form part of the company’s Advanced range, are solidly built 2.5 inch units and are available in a choice of capacities from 500GB to 2.5TB
What do a Skullcandy headset and a character from Last of the Summer Wine have in common? Their name!
870683 Zinc E Drift Electric Scoote

Zinc Scooter E-Drift

A battery powered scooter as sold by Halfords in the UK was for me anyway the most interesting thing I viewed at the Halfords Christmas Show held in London in September, so I asked to see one and this is what I was sent to review.
It should be easy to assemble using the supplied Allen Key and a mid-sized Philips screw driver (not supplied), while will pester you for one this is for them, the stated age is 8 plus and I would suggest that this is the correct age or even older. This is not a light unit and it is only steerable by leaning left or right, as children need a helmet to ride a bicycle they should also need one for this as the battery gives a good speed boost and the brake is only on the rear wheel.
NETGEAR has recently released a combination of router and satellite to help boost network traffic but you need to provide the modem.
Recently released by NETGEAR, the Orbi™ WiFi System promises to provide high-speed WiFi throughout buildings of up to 4,000 square feet in area.  This kit consists of units that are designated as the router element and a satellite which make use of tri-band technology.  You also get appropriate power lead and an Ethernet cable.  You will need to provide a modem for the required Internet connection.

Match-3 Shooter

The follow up title to Bubble Zoo, a game which I missed out on, Bubble Zoo 2 belongs to the Match-3 genre
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