The beauty of social media sites such as twitter, they allow you to follow a whole host of different businesses as well as people. I follow a good amount of Restaurants on twitter, ones where I frequent a lot and others where I’m dying to go to. The people behind the account, make time for you, chat away to you and from those conversations, entice you into going to their Restaurant.
For me, two Restaurants stand out. Piccolino’s in Newcastle’s Quay Side and Restaurant Bar & Grill within Glasgow’s Princes Square. I love both Restaurants & the staff behind the twitter accounts. I’ve boasted about how good Restaurant Bar & Grill is already on my blog & twitter with reviews of food & events there, I can’t get enough of the place. I even got my parents hooked!
While in the Newcastle office for 2 months, I was recommended to go to Piccolino’s. So I did. It didn’t disappoint. I instantly fell in love with their Calamari, Veal Chop & Pistachio Ice Cream. I’ve recommended the Restaurant to everyone and anyone who goes to Newcastle, even my father who lives & works in Paris but goes to the Newcastle Office of the company he works for a lot.
& Now, I’m due to go back to Newcastle for work again for a while. Piccolino’s is where I’ll be heading ASAP. They also know me very very well now as you can see from the twitter conversation below….
@ananyah Should we start preparing the pistachio ice-cream? ;-)
Last night I got an email from Starbucks talking about the launch of My Starbucks Rewards and the benefits. Now, every time you pay using your Starbucks Card, you’ll get a star. Every time you collect 15 stars – you will be given a free Tall drink! Not bad.
The app’s loyalty scheme will encourage people to qualify as a ‘gold level member’ to get free drinks. Customers paying with a registered Starbucks Card will get a free drink every 15 visits. After 50 visits they move from Green to Gold Level and get extra benefits such as free espresso shots, soy, syrups and whipped cream. If you already were a Starbucks card holder, you are automatically upgraded to Gold.
Your Starbucks Card works exactly the same, you will still receive vouchers for free drinks during promotional periods and the best new feature? If you have an iPhone, you can now pay for your drinks via the Starbucks App in the UK which is available on iTunes from today. Since the launch of mobile payments in America last January, there have been over 26 million mobile transactions and approx $110 million has been loaded onto Starbucks Cards directly through the mobile app. No more worrying about trying to find your card in your bag or forgetting it at all. It’s about time!
I downloaded the new version of the Starbucks App & played around with it, up until the point where you are barcode scanned. Sadly I am nowhere near a Starbucks at the moment so I can properly try it out, which I am not happy about. Serious caffeine withdrawals!
Looks good & I can’t wait to try it! Triple Venti Caramel Skimmed Caramel Drizzle Caffè Latte anyone?
Those of you who follow me on twitter knew of my ongoing saga of trying to find a new digital camera. Thankfully, 3 weeks later, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a digital camera that I saw from the very start which impressed me. After buying the camera from Currys, I was approached asking if I’d like to review their website for them, so I thought… why not! I am after all a consumer. I buy from that store, I’m a recent buyer & I’m as good as any person to show my experiences on using the website. I purchased the PANASONIC Lumix DMC-FZ45 Hybrid Super Zoom Digital Camera & it’s love at first snap.
I’ve decided to jazz things up a little & made a video post showing a run through of the website from my eyes showcasing the best digital cameras, the cheap cameras, compact digital cameras to the best compact camera with the joys of listening to my voice. I am pretty exhausted after getting up at 5:30am all week, so sorry if I make you fall asleep, it’s not intentional
So in summary, I loved how detailed the website was in regards to the amount of information that is given per camera. I love how you can narrow your searches down quickly & easily, also viewing other cameras that people have viewed alongside the one you are currently viewing giving you other options within the same price range. I had hoped that the website would have shown more photographs of the actual digital cameras, maybe a 360 degree angle video image so you can see how big the camera is, the buttons etc, but so you have a better idea in your head what you will be receiving.
I loved the fact that the reviews given are very well laid out, they are from confirmed buyers of the camera who give open & honest reviews based on their experiences with the camera and give marks on a variety of different aspects. Another feature which is great is being able to ask a buyer how they find the camera, it’s one thing reading all the specs, but being able to ask someone who bought the camera how they find it & put it to use is an amazing feature.
One thing I didn’t like was that I had problems trying to compare different brands of cameras, I may have been doing something wrong but I couldn’t figure out how to compare a Nikon Camera to the Camera I later ended up buying. Maybe a complete n00b, but every time I clicked the little button and then went to another camera, it reset my selection making it impossible for me. That is a feature that I’d like to see improved (or discussed in more detail on how to use if it exists!).
When doing the screen recording & demoing the check out cart, I would have liked to been told when stock is likely to be back in store, a form or something to ask when it would be next in store, sign up on a waiting list for the product or be notified when it is next in stock which websites like Amazon do.
Overall, my experience as a consumer with Currys was great. My camera was shipped on Next Day Delivery & I haven’t regretted my purchase one bit, well…. maybe the fact I haven’t been able to go out & about with it as much as I’d like due to work and crazy weather conditions!
I’m a geek. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I love Apple. Work Colleagues make fun of me (& another guy David-Allan) as we are total utter Apple Lovers. No, not the Granny Smith variety (I have a thing about the skin on actual Apples, eww!) but the shiny shiny Apple Inc.
During WWDC (that’s The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference for all you n00bs) I live tweeted the entire event having utter geekasm and probably annoyed all of my 1248 followers (sorry about that but get used to it!). iOS5 & OSX Lion was introduced and with iOS5 alone, 200 new features have been introduced. Not released to the public until Fall (that’s Autumn for us Brits), I managed to get my hands on a Developers Beta copy thanks to my friend Jon & upgraded as soon as it was released. It has now been nearly 48 hours since I’ve been using iOS5 & I can honestly say I love it. Sure, it’s a beta copy & there are small bugs within it at the moment but certain features within it make it all worthwhile. Below is a sneak peak of my favourite new features.
1. Notifications
About frikin time Apple. This is one feature that I’ve been dying for & FINALLY it has come true. The entire Notification system has been completely revamped. “You get all kinds of notifications on your iOS device: new email, texts, friend requests, and more. With Notification Center, you can keep track of them all in one convenient location. Just swipe down from the top of any screen to enter Notification Center. Choose which notifications you want to see. New notifications appear briefly at the top of your screen, without interrupting what you’re doing. And the Lock screen displays notifications so you can act on them with just a swipe. Notification Center is the best way to stay on top of your life’s breaking news”. I’ve so far tested it with SMS, iMessage (more on that later!), Emails, Facebook, Twitter & Missed Calls. It works perfectly. One thing I hated in the past is that when you were on a specific application & a notification popup came through, it interrupted you. That is now a thing of a past. If you are mid task & a notification comes through, it pops up in the Notification bar at the top of the screen but doesn’t get in the way or disturb you, at all. Top Marks Apple!
2. iMessage
A brand new messaging feature to take on the likes of BBM. You can send unlimited messages from any iOS5 iPod, iPad or iPhone for free via 3G & Wifi. The feature is built into the existing Messaging app & is color coded when sending messages to differentiate between a normal sms and an iMessage. When you send a normal SMS to those who don’t have iOS5, it is green (the normal sms color), however, when you send an iMessage, it automatically turns blue & tells you at the top of the screen that it is an iMessage. Just like BBM, you can send photos, videos, locations & contacts, see when someone is typing to you and get delivery notifications when sent/read. To iMessage someone, you can either use their phone number or email address (you can add more than 1 in the iMessage settings page, I’ve added 4 email addresses people can iMessage me on). Great feature if you don’t want to give someone your phone number, instead give them an email address they can message you on. Will be interesting to see how the Mobile Phone Carriers deal with this, MMS & SMS’s will be a thing of the past for those on iOS5 which is great for someone who sends a lot of photos & international SMS’s like me.
3. Integrated Twitter
I’m a twitterholic, at over 100,000 tweets you would have probably guessed if you follow me. If you don’t, why the hell not?! Apple has now introduced integrated Twitter. Sign in via Settings & you can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps. You can even update your contacts automatically & if anyone on your contact list has twitter, their username and profile pictures are added to their contact entry so you can just click on their contact entry to be taken directly to their twitter profile. Awesome! Browsing the web on Safari & want to tweet a link? It’s simple now! As well as automatically sending a photo to twitter simply using the new automatic twitter photo app powered by Photobucket (why them?!!?!?!!?!? Twitpic would have been better!).
4. Camera & Photo Updates
I rarely carry my digital camera around with me these days unless I’m going somewhere specific and know that my iPhone camera just isn’t enough. The new camera updates allow you to open the camera app from the lock screen (double click the home screen twice!), perfect for those moments where you have only a few seconds to take a photo & don’t want to miss it by unlocking, then finding the camera app and waiting for it to load, missing the photographic opportunity. You can now also press the volume-up button to take photos rather than using the home button which is a great new feature, one that should have been there from the start. The new editing features within the photo app allow you to crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eyes without needing a 3rd party app (I only wish they added a resize feature!). You can organize & create albums within the device now which was one feature I was missing on iOS4.3 & fed up of a massive camera roll archive. However, when it comes to photo editing on my iPhone, nothing will take me away from Camera+, the BEST app around if you ask me!
5. iCloud
Simply put as a hard drive floating around in the sky. It is a great way to access data on all your Apple devices. iCloud stores your content so it’s always readily available from your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac or PC.“It gives you instant access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more. It keeps your email, contacts and calendars up to date across all your devices. No syncing required. No management required. In fact, no anything required. iCloud does it all for you”. You are automatically given 5GB of free iCloud storage, but because of the way iCloud stores your content, purchased music, apps, and books, as well as your photo stream, don’t count against your free storage. Only mail, documents, camera roll, account information, settings, and other app data are what the 5GB is used against. iCloud is another great feature, especially when syncing photos & documents between my iPhone & Macbook Pro. Instead of plugging in my iPhone or using a 3rd Party app to sync via wifi, I will be able to automatically access them on either device. I haven’t had a chance to test this feature because it isn’t fully activated yet so I’ll probably go into detail about iCloud when July comes.
6. Reminders
I have the memory of a gold fish at times, so normally use Notes or a 3rd Party To-Do list to remind me to actually do stuff, then forget about the fact that I have a To-Do list to remind myself To-Do stuff! Reminders will help me out a lot! I normally use 3rd party apps to remind me of certain blog ideas I have, to remember to email someone later on or things to buy at the supermarket for my culinary adventures. Reminders will alert you on screen to do things and also works with iCal, Outlook, and iCloud, so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars. No more gold fish brain for me!
7. App Store Purchases
I buy apps, I delete apps, I buy more apps, then delete them again. It’s a never ending cycle that I’ve fallen for. Twitter and Photography apps seem to be the ones that get me every time! I use them for a while, then get bored, I hate clutter so end up deleting them then forgetting all about them! The new look App Store Purchases feature allows you to see exactly what you have downloaded & installed on your phone right now as well as all apps previously downloaded but not currently on your device. Because of this feature, I found a few apps I lost when I restored my iPhone a few months ago and lost everything & will come in handy for people who get into the same never ending cycle like me!
So there you have it. My review of my favourite features of iOS5 which I have been testing since installing it. There aren’t many bugs on it & very stable for a beta iOS version. I can’t wait for it to be fully released to the public in the Fall (Autumn again for us Brits!). Have you installed iOS5? What are your views on it? Lemme know!
Now for some screenshots…. sorry for the ugly watermarks!
My real life alter ego is dealing with fixing computers on a daily basis ranging from teaching someone how to use a particular piece of software to removing the nastiest of viruses around the internet. So many people are affected by one of the biggest viruses to spread at present & it’s a killer removing it if you don’t really know what to do. Today alone I helped fix 5 of these & it’s hard to explain to clients how exactly they get them because frankly we don’t even know how it is spreading. Everyday thousands of new viruses are unleashed & even the most sophisticated anti-virus program cannot keep up with them all. The good thing though? We can fix them & get your computer back in working order.
The virus I’m talking about? The Security Tool Virus. This is a virus which poses as an anti-spyware/virus application. Pop-ups are unleashed all over your desktop which “detects and reports” a variety of infections you have on your system, this then dramatically slows down your computer, over loads your CPU, makes it crash & then asks for money to install the full version of the application in order to fully help you remove the infections ($50 seems like the in-figure at present!).
However, it’s a scam that so many people have fallen for & when they do click to pay (silly people!) it can unleash more viruses all over your system in a bid to steal your passwords, online banking details & other personal data.
So how do you fix it?
It’s a long ass process but worth it! Prepare to spend a few hours to completely fix the issue but in the end it will also help remove other crap & help speed up your computer.
1. Get your computer into Safe Mode with Networking by pressing the F8 key as soon as you turn on your PC, then selecting this mode from the Advanced Boot Menu & pressing enter.
2. Download the following programs; Malware Bytes, rKill, Stinger, Super Anti-Spyware & CCleaner. The installation & use of these programs is pretty self explanatory. They can all be run in safe mode unlike some applications. I would run rKill first as it forces all processes to be killed, then run Malware Bytes & Super Anti-Spyware simultaneously, then Stinger which blasts viruses away and lastly CCleaner which removes temp files amongst other things.
3. After running all the scans & removing the infections, reboot your computer back into normal mode (for n00bs, that’s your normal desktop, without pressing F8 on the keyboard). It should of got rid of the nasty infection & to be safe, run a virus scan like Microsoft Security Essentials. I’m very Anti-Norton & McAfee as you can get a similar anti virus software for free rather than an expensive piece of software which attacks your RAM & slows your computer down.
If however, it still doesn’t get rid of the entire infection (highly unlikely unless ultra severe) you can manually remove it by ending some processes & going into the registry keys. I wouldn’t recommend this if you don’t know what you’re doing as you can cause more harm than good.
How to remove the infection manually:
1. End all processes which have random numbers like 845623.exe as these ARE suspicious.
2. Remove the following registry entries by going to Start > Run > Regedit
And there you have it! Everything should now be clear & you should notice a signficant difference in the overall performance of your computer. The above applications I recommended can be used for other viruses & infections you have not just The Security Tool Virus. If you have the virus (or any other), let me know how you got on with the steps & if you are having any problems, please do not hesitate in getting in touch with me.
I wanted a way to be able to showcase my latest Recipes & Techie Tip posts on the sidebar of my blog for easy reference for my visitors (yes, you guys!) seperating them from the Recent Posts and Archives. So I found a way of using the coding for Recent Posts and adapting it to showcase a specified category ultimately highlighting a set amount of posts, in my case, 5.
Within this code, the “query_posts code” tells WordPress to find the latest set amount of posts within the specified categories, I chose 5 & then runs the code in a loop to display them.
I have then added CSS to stylize the displayed posts using little arrows so it looks nicer than just plain text. The CSS code is within my style.css file and called for within the php code with DIV & LI tags.
This is a handy piece of coding for you to use if you want to showcase posts from several categories like I have. So try it out & let me know what you think!
Note: If you are using widget sidebars, you will need to install the Exec-PHP plugin, then add the code to a text widget, otherwise this will not work. The Exec-PHP let’s you add PHP coding within posts, pages and widgetized sidebars.
Remember years & years ago, cassette tape mix-tapes were the greatest things ever? I used to get given them by friends to share our favourite songs or by a guy with little messages within the sleeve of the tape. I miss those days! But, now Suck UK has come up with the greatest idea EVER & I’m totally going to buy some of them to give to friends! You can now create your own mix-tape via USB
Create your own unique mix tape
1. ADD YOUR OWN SOUNDS TO THE USB STICK.
2. PLACE THE STICK INSIDE THE TAPE STYLE GIFT PACK.
3. WRITE YOUR OWN MESSAGE AND PLAYLIST.
4. GIVE IT TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE.
It comes with 128MB of memory & works just like a normal USB Flash Drive where you plug it into your PC or Mac and upload your chosen MP3′s (or other files, could be nice to add photos too!). You then write your own title, messages and play list all over the retro gift pack. Costing £12, you can buy it from Suck UK and there are 6 different designs to collect!
A new feature here on my blog, I’ll be doing quick techie tips every so often & I’m kicking off with this quick & simple tip on how to intregrate facebook chat with iChat so you do not need to keep any browser windows open (and accidently close the browser mid-conversation!). This only works for those with Apple Mac’s, sorry Windows & PC users
P.S: Excuse my crappy voice, I was really tired by the time I recorded the screen cast.
It’s been just over a week since I’ve been back to blogging, I’ve missed it like crazy & slowly catching up with everything I want to talk about, it’s gonna take a while but I’ll get there!
I’ve been trying out a new visitor statistic software called Get Clicky & have fallen in love with it. I can see exactly who is visiting my site, when, what they look at, who refers them & where they exit. It will take a while to get my usual visitor number back up to where it used to be, but within the past week I’ve had just over 1970 unique visitors which is pretty good, just wish you would all start commenting now grrrr The only huge difference is now that the majority of my visitors are within the UK & USA rather than Kuwait or UAE which was the case for the past 6 years.
But, it’s not just from these places where I get visitors from, I get them from all over the world
Shortly before Christmas, I took the huge leap of converting to Apple after Jacqui hounded me and hounded me with all things Mac! She has this power you know, to convert people to the dark side, so you need to becareful when you talk to her mwahaha!
I got the 13″ High End Macbook Pro, the 15″ looked too big for me when I saw them side by side & after a few months of using it, I’m hooked! I’d be lost without my little Macbook now, it feels weird using a PC!
I bought a little handmade sleeve to protect my Macbook from etsy so it doesn’t get scratched, I’m like an over protective mother hahaha. It’s slightly padded & it great for when I want to take my Macbook with me on the move.
Yes Macbook’s are more expensive than normal laptop’s but it really is worth every penny. As soon as a booted my Macbook up, I was blown away by the graphic & sound performance compared to my 3 yr old Fujistu-Siemens. And I had my Mac Guru Jacqui to help me with what programs I should install right away. It did take a little getting used to at first, the keyboard, OS and shortcuts are all so different but much quicker & easier!
I use a website called Wakoopa to keep track of what programs I use on my Macbook, so if you want to add me as well, please do so by clicking here! To date, I’ve used 167 different applications both Web & Mac based, I won’t list them all but I’d be lost without Growl, Quicksilver, Photobooth (yes I’m addicted!), Coda & Cyberduck.
I’ll leave you now with photos taken on my blackberry (sorry for the quality!) of me unboxing and starting up my new baby! I still need to come up with a nickname for my Macbook, I have no clue what to call it.
Ananyah is the alter ego of Michelle, a girl in her late 20's who grew up in Singapore and Kuwait but is technically Scottish even if the accent isn't there! She now divides her time between Glasgow & Paris and could quite happily eat herself to death with macarons à la pistache, cupcakes & starbucks <3
Working in the IT Industry, she loves everything & anything to do with cooking in her spare time, has a handbag addiction, loves to take the most random photos & drools over shiny gadgets *swoon*
and the veal chop
The only huge difference is now that the majority of my visitors are within the UK & USA rather than Kuwait or UAE which was the case for the past 6 years.
