An A to Z of the web - courtesy of my browser

Recently, the lovely English Mum started a post called Around the web in 20 clicks listing her top 20 recent reads. I got a mention in Tara's post of the same name, although she actually had 24!

I wondered if I should have a go myself. However, I don't think I could ever choose.  Then I had an idea.....

I am not big on storing things in my browser's favourites. I do favourite some things - mostly long and obscure URLs that point to a particular page that I use from time to time. The rest of the time I just type in the address bar and I often use the auto-complete feature. There are certain sites whose addresses pop up as soon as I type in a single letter because of my regular usage, so I thought I would go through and list the sites that are stored in my browser when I type a single letter into the address bar. There aren't 26 as some letters don't give me an answer but this gives you a flavour of my internet usage habits and where I like to hang out.

And so, I give you my browser's A to Z guide to the web.

A is for A|Wear, an Irish clothing retailer who sell to the UK. I was very lucky earlier this year and won £1000 store credit on their site so I am forever planning what to buy from them. I still have about £300 to go and it's been fun picking stuff, ordering it, and it turning up - all without costing me a penny!

B is for Blog Up North, a blog written by Garry aka himupnorth. We've been twitter buddies for what feels like forever and it is because of him that I started writing (I wrote him a couple of guest posts earlier in the year) which led me to start this blog. Form an orderly queue to thank or complain as appropriate.

C is for Chorley Guardian which shocked me as I really don't read it all that often these days.

D is for Disqus - which you may recognise as my commenting system. I log on to reply to comments so that I don't miss replying to anyone that's taken time to comment on a post.

E is for English Wikipedia's main page - again, I was surprised by this as I don't think I visit too often. I am more likely to access Wikipedia direct to an entry from Google.

F is for Feedburner which creates a blog RSS feed, allowing people to subscribe to my blog via readers or email.

G is for Google, which I guess is not a shock really. I am forever googling pretty much everything.

H is for He Tore A Hamstring, a blog written by Rohan. He writes a lot about sport - in particular Liverpool FC - but also about his life. He writes poignantly about his struggles with depression but also last year, he lost his fiancée Dani and many of his posts are inspired by her, documenting his journey through grief and his enduring love for her. Some of his posts have just blown me away.

I is for (I am) Typecast, a blog by Nickie. A couple of weeks ago on Twitter, Nickie was asking opinions on new blog templates etc and the conversation turned to domain names. The lovely Marylin from Pure Unadulterated Softthistle offered her a free domain. I came up with the name "iamtypecast.com" which turned out to be available and the rest is history. You can read the full story of that night here.

J is for JAG's Fitness Blog, written by Jo. I've known Jo for several years online, mostly from the Handbag  discussion boards. She started her blog to document her weight loss journey in 2009 and lost 50lbs in a little under 6 months. Her posts document what she's eating, how she's training and other details of her life. She is truly inspirational and her blog has a sizeable following.

K is for Kirsty's Gone Bananas blog. Kirsty lives in Florida, although she is half British. She has a daughter who suffers from epilepsy and at the moment, she is blogging about that throughout National Epilepsy Awareness Month. She also hosts the Friday Food Fight, along with her sister Karen who blogs at If I Could Escape and who has recently moved to the UK with her family.

L is for Lancashire Evening Post for which, the entry for C also applies. I don't read it that often but I do look at the news.

M is for my mailbox. Not a lot to see here, move along now.

N is for National Rail Enquiries - and I don't go on trains that often. Still, it's useful to find out train times - the fares bit is rubbish tho.

O is for Ocado. They're the only internet food retailer I will use now as they are so reliable and they rarely make mistakes. I booked my Christmas food shop with them last year and then spent an agonising 8 hours waiting for it to turn up as we were knee deep (ok, ankle deep) in snow and the delivery lorry bringing orders up from their warehouse blew a tyre on the motorway. They got here - but the van got stuck on our road. I don't use them all that often, but it's always a nice treat when I do.

P is for Pizza Hut. Not entirely sure why - although the kids love pizza, we don't go there very often.!

Q is for Quidco. This site allows you to earn cashback on your internet purchases. Liking a bargain, I always check for deals before I buying anything large!

R is for Random.org which is a random number service. I used it to help me draw entries for the competition I ran a couple of weeks ago.

S is for Sticky Fingers, written by Tara. It is, of course, home to The Gallery most weeks so I'm constantly visiting to load pictures or to check the prompt. However, the whole blog is great and unsurprisingly, it has some great pictures too.

T is for The Five Fs blog! Hardly surprising, is it?!

U is for, erm, nothing.

V is for Very Bored in Catalunya. It is a blog about Very Bored and her life as an English ex-pat mum of one in - strangely - Catalunya (northern Spain).

W is for Who.Unfollowed.Me, a tool to discover who has unfollowed you on twitter. I know some people use it and agonise over any unfollows. To be honest, it doesn't bother me unless it is someone I am very close to. I guess I just like to know who has unfollowed me. Sometimes, I do ask people why they have unfollowed if I feel I know them well enough to do so and it is usually a twitter problem. I generally check it 3 times a week although sometimes I forget to do it.

X, Y, and Z are for .... erm, again, nothing.

So, there you go. I think I may have revealed myself as obsessed by blogs, stats, information, saving money and food and possibly retail therapy.  I fear my browser says way too much about me.

Toyologist Review Week - Power Rangers RPM Wolf Cycle

Today on the Five Fs, I'm delighted to welcome a guest post by Marylin who blogs at Pure Unadulterated Softthistle. I sent Marylin the Power Rangers RPM Wolf Cycle (£12.98) for her to review with her two boys, Zack and Max. Over to Marylin.... 

When Max (3) saw the box for the Power Rangers RPM Performance Wolf Cycle, he was at it instantly. His grabby hands made sure that he got first dibs. I don’t think Zack (5) was too bothered though, as he’s not really a Power Rangers fan, and he knows better than to argue with his little brother... poor wee thing!

I used to be a Power Rangers fan, back when I was about ten or so, I used to LOVE the Red guy, I would imagine me being in danger, and him coming to my rescue, then making me the Pink Ranger, and getting to be one myself!

The packaging wasn’t too difficult to open, which was lucky as Max was DESPERATE by this point to open his new toy. Once it was out, he was off with the little figure and the bike.

It turns out there are three different “modes” that the bike can go in, “cycle mode”, which is how it arrived, “slider mode” which is vaguely shown in a small picture on the box (no instructions inside by the way!), and a “zord” mode, which I’ve yet to figure out.

Trying to get it into “slider” mode wasn’t that easy to figure out for me, so I don’t think a 4 year old (it’s rated 4+) would have been able to do it alone.

For the price, £12.98 from Toys R Us, it’s not too bad, but I wouldn’t give it to a younger child. The hands of the figure come off very easily (intended by the look of it for some reason?), and can be lost (we now only have one hand, after only about 5 days of play).

I don’t think I’d personally buy any of these for my boys, but if you have a kid who *looooves* Power Rangers with a passion, it’s not too expensive, and I’m sure they would have fun!

As it is, despite the lost hand, Max adores his new black Power Ranger, and carries him around everywhere.

The bike has been left by the wayside under my bed though...

(Marylin was provided with the above toy to review and received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are her own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)

Thanks to Marylin for writing the review and to Zack and Max for testing it so thoroughly! 
This post marks the end of my Toyologist Review Week, but not the end of the reviews. We are still madly testing toys here and there will be more reviews in the coming weeks. If you are interested in testing a toy and writing a review as a guest post, do get in touch - my email address is kateab65@gmail.com .

Toyologist Review Week - Creative Play

Day 4 and today, we're onto creative play - things to make basically. I'm always a bit wary of such items because, in our house anyway, the potential to a) go wrong and b) make enormous amounts of mess is huge. So, we've been sticking, moulding, pressing and twirling on your behalf to put them through their paces.

Firstly, there is the Bendaroos Creativity Centre (£19.99). The idea of this that you have flexible wax strips wrapped around string which you wind around models or templates to create 3D models. The set includes scissors, a couple of models and a shaping tool to help create your models. In theory, it looks simple. We have had this for ages and both Monkey and Missy Woo have been pestering to have a go but I've always held back. Well, I think I know why. They actually found it really hard to do the shaping/winding part. Although it's labelled as suitable for 5 years upwards, they actually ended up giving it to Daddy to do for them. The models that you make are fairly small and also easy to squash (I may or may not have sat on at least one by mistake) but they can be taken apart easily and the strips reused, so this can be a blessing as well as a curse. My overall verdict is that this is OK, but perhaps better for children older than 5 - maybe from 7 upwards. The children enjoyed it but soon gave up and since we played with it, they have not asked to play with it again.

The same could not be said for the Sticky Mosaics Dinosaurs (£14.99). This is like painting by numbers but with little coloured sticky mosaic foam tiles to stick on 4 different designs. Although they needed some help - because there are lots of tiles to put on each design - they loved doing the sticking and were very good at making sure they stuck the tiles on the right number. It kept them busy (and quiet) for a substantial period of time, largely because it is easy to do and they can see instant results. Both are very proud of their achievements and have a finished design up in their rooms. There are other designs available - most of which are very girly, and so would appeal to Missy Woo more - and I would happily recommend your kids try any or all of them. The finished result looked very professional so this would make a nice present for children who like to make things and then give them away as presents. It's a resounding thumbs up from us for this.

And then, the original creative play item - Play-Doh. We were sent the Play-Doh Mega Fun Factory (£24.99) to try which has a real conveyor belt. The Play-Doh is loaded in one end and it squishes it out onto the conveyor belt. You can then use one of 15 moulds to press out pretend food or toys. It also includes 4 tubs of Play-Doh.

We got this out at a gathering of friends who'd come to try some toys with us and it was the most popular toy of the morning. Children - aged 3 and upwards - were queueing up to use it. The conveyor belt in particular seemed a big hit. Anyway, there was nearly a fight over who was going to use it next. One little girl sat there absorbed by it for a good half an hour. They thought it was great fun. If your child likes Play-Doh (and let's face it, most do) they will love this. Hopefully, in the process, they won't make as much mess as usual.

That's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll have a guest post for you reviewing the Power Rangers RPM Performance Cycle. Do come back and have a read then!

(I was provided with the above toys to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)

The Gallery - Show Me The Funny

If you've come to the blog to see my Gallery entry for this week, you can find it here. Whilst you're here, why not have a look at some of my toy reviews, which are below?

Cheers!

Toyologist Review Week - Games

Games are great for us, because they tend to be largely gender neutral so they appeal to both Monkey and Missy Woo and they can play (and fight) together. They are normally good value for money and they will often get games out over other toys and are great for rainy days. We have tested 3 games for you today. 

First of all is Zingo (£12.99) which is described as "bingo with a zing". The "zing" seems to come from the Zinger card dispenser, which actually dispenses tiles to go on the cards, not the cards themselves. This sets it apart from other sound and words bingo game you might get (we already have one of those). It claims to help teach shape and pattern recognition but as it's aimed at 4 year olds and upwards, this seems a moot point. However, the words AND the picture are both on both sides of the tiles. This means the children just recognise everything based on the pictures as they are relatively simple images. I think it would be better if the tiles had the words on one side, pictures on the other or the words on the tiles and the pictures on the card as our other game has. This would encourage the children to recognise the word and match it to the relevant picture. 

The children did love this - in particular the Zinger dispenser which they spent a lot of time fiddling with. When tidying up, they insisted on putting the tiles in carefully one at a time, which meant that it took quite a while! Overall, it was a hit with the children and a qualified hit with me. I think it could be improved if it's going to be properly educational for the age group it's aimed at. If it's just going to be a game, just say so. 

Next is the Peppa Pig Tumble and Spin game (£9.99) . It is a memory game that features a spinning Peppa Pig that plays the Peppa Pig theme tune whilst spinning then gives you instructions when it stops. Each player plays as one of the characters and has to collect six cards showing that character. The cards are laid face down and the spinning Peppa tells you how many cards you can turn over or to put one back. If you turn over your character, you can keep that card. The trick is to remember where the cards are as they are turned over by the other players. 

This appealed to Missy Woo more than Monkey as this game is more girly as all the featured characters are girls. What we found was that sometimes the spinning Peppa's music didn't stop so had to be spun again or shaken to get Peppa to "speak". Other than that, it was quite enjoyable and a relatively short game, which can be played with 2-4 players. Apart from the music, that is - listening to the theme tune over and over again gets slightly wearing after a while so I will be suggesting that Monkey and Missy Woo play it well away from me! Other than that, we like this game. It would be perfect if the spinning Peppa worked properly all the time. 

And then, finally, we have the Crazy Chefs game, which is a very reasonably priced £6.99, although there is not a great deal to it. It is another variation on the theme of the memory game - players have a chef board and attempt to collect all the ingredients on their board by turning over cards. Once they have collected them, they must spin a spinner first to get a plate and then to "cook" their meal. It's relatively simple to play (and suitable for 3 years upwards) although Missy Woo seem to get the most pleasure by laying all the cards out by herself and placing all the ingredients in the right place on the boards, like some kind of large jigsaw! The spinning part does seem a bit pointless - the game would be fine stopping once a player had found all the ingredients and to be honest, it would be simple enough to leave that part out. I do however think it is good value and a simple game like this would be a great addition as it's easy to understand, doesn't make huge amounts of mess, and doesn't take ages to play. 

Talking of mess, come back tomorrow and we'll have some reviews of crafty/making type things for you. 


(I was provided with the above toys to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)

Toyologist Review Week - Boys' Toys

So, after yesterday's foray into girls' toys, we got out the boys' toys to give them the once over. They're all based around familiar characters that all boys of Monkey's age seem to love.

Firstly, we have the Transformers Cyber Ops Bumblebee, an eye-popping £59.99. Monkey leapt on this when we got one of our parcels. It turns from a Guardian into a Warrior (whatever that means, numpty mummy strikes again) but basically changes from the Transformer Robot into a car with flip out cannons. Sounds simple, doesn't it? And it should be as it's marked suitable from 5+, although it is also marked Level 4 - Advanced. Well. Monkey had a go at taking the robot and turning it into a car. After a few minutes of trying, he gave it to his manservant Daddy to complete the job. It took Daddy twenty minutes to achieve this Herculean task. This may just be transforming it into the car - because since then, I have seen the car back as a robot and assume Monkey has done this by himself. Still, not easy. The robot has lights and speech activated by pressing a button on the robot's torso.

Monkey seemed to like this but never plays with it for very long. One of his school friends came round to play and had a quick look at it before moving on to something else. The longest it was played with was when Daddy first transformed it into a car! On that basis, as a parent, I don't think this toy is best value, certainly not for a 5 year old like Monkey. It may well suit an older (and more dextrous) child better. 

Next, we have the Ben 10 Alien Force Laser Lance (£19.99). First, I must mention that I am uncomfortable with my children having weapons. I don't ban them but I really don't like children talking about "killing" each other. I'm afraid that is what happened when my children picked up this and played with it. Basically, it is based on the Laser Lance from the Alien Force series which is used by Kevin Levin and the Forever Knights. It has sounds - perfect for imaginary play. It also has a "concealed Omnitrix cross-hair" - in other words, a target or sight. Unfortunately, we didn't get that much chance to test this feature as it snapped off on first use. Apart from that, both Monkey and Missy Woo enjoyed running around with it "firing" it. However, as I said, they also talked about killing people whilst playing with it and I felt I had to tackle this with them when they did. My children are not  violent and I intend keeping it that way. 

They never play with this for long but they do play with it regularly. I would say, therefore, that it is a bigger hit with them than it is with me. I wouldn't have chosen this for my children for reasons I've already mentioned but they seem to like it. Monkey has been slightly obsessed with Ben 10 so this may be a factor but really (and particularly without the cross-hair) it features no overt branding. But if your child loves Ben 10, they'll love this.

Our final toy today is the Toy Story Klip Kitz Buzz Lightyear model kit. (£9.99) It's a put-it-together-yourself model of everyone's favourite astronaut. As the name suggests, the pieces, snap and clip together, meaning there is no complicated screwing or gluing. The pieces can be locked into place using a key to achieve different poses. It also means that it can be taken apart and put back together again. This is another toy that Monkey leapt on when he first saw it, largely because he had recently seen Toy Story 3 at the cinema. He did need help from Daddy to put this together but he was better able to do some of this by himself, plus there are stickers that you can use to decorate your completed Buzz. We have discouraged taking it apart again but Monkey is quite happy to play with the model. For the price, it is a complete steal. I would say out of today's toys, it is the best value of them all. 

That's all for today. Come back tomorrow when we will review some games for you.

(I was provided with the above toys to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)

Toyologist Review Week - Girls' Toys

So, it's the start of November which means that parents are beginning to think about what to get their little darlings for Christmas. Yes, I know I just said (well, typed to be more precise, but you know..) the C word but there are those of us who like to get their present shopping done by the end of November - as we have a particular allergy to visiting shops in the month of December.

As we have had so many toys from the Toys R Us Toyologist programme, this is going to be a tough one this year as the children have had so many new things to play this although they have started writing frighteningly long lists that look more like toy catalogues. However, as we have been doing so much testing - both with friends of ours and without - that I thought I would devote several posts this week to different types of toys. 

Today we're looking at some of the girls' toys that we have been sent. Little girls don't generally build, want to fight or bash cars together so if you're not used to buying for them, it can be a real headache. However, from my experience, they do love role play type things a lot. Missy Woo is very much into craft and making things, as well as a lot of colouring but that could just be an individual thing. 

One of the things that Missy Woo is not big on is dolls. Don't get me wrong, she has them and she says she likes them, but she really can take or leave them. She'll play for a while but I'll then find them left on the floor and doesn't naturally go to them when she's looking for something to do. We are then, perhaps, not the best people to review the Girls Only Emma Doll (£29.99). It's a 50cm doll dressed ready to go out with her friends and carrying a mobile phone. Well. Since we got this doll, Missy Woo has included "real phone" on her Christmas list. It does seem aimed at her age group so it does seem odd to include a mobile phone as an accessory as it does give the impression that it's normal for a child that age to have one (she's been told she's not getting one by the way!). Missy Woo likes to dress and undress dolls but the clothing on this one seems particularly tight and difficult for her to take off or put on. The doll also comes with an audiobook on CD, which has some odd stories where Emma goes online and talks to people which again is not really appropriate for the age. Having said that, Missy Woo has only listened to about half of it and then lost interest. I don't really see the point of the audiobook - I think the makers would be better to focus their efforts on making the doll better - like better clothing and so forth. This is definitely one for the little girl who really likes her dolls, otherwise it is a lot of money to pay.

Next up is the Sylvanian Families Brother at Home Set (£12.99) I am way too old to have played with this myself as a child so it's a new experience for me. This little set includes all the parts for a bathroom - and yes, that means a toilet too! There is also a Tam Tailbury figure, who is a dog. Apparently, he likes to spend lots of time in the bathroom annoying his sister and making her late for school. (Ooookaaaaaaayy!) The detail on this is amazing even at the smaller scale and you can see it's really well made. The little girls that played with this loved it - it was a perfect size for their little fingers and everything worked. I can see why it became so popular with children and adults alike - particularly as it is reminiscent of a more innocent type of toy. I just had a quick squizz at the Sylvanian Families website and the sheer range of characters, families and sets is completely amazing so buying such a set could be the start of a lifelong obsession. This would probably work best as a present to add to other sets, but would also be good as a starter present to gauge a child's interest in the range. My only concern as a parent is what to do with all those tiny little pieces which are bound to end up strewn across my floors. 

And then there is the Strawberry Shortcake Cafe Playset (£34.99). This is a strawberry shaped two storey cafe with a Strawberry Shortcake doll who appears to live above the shop. The set smells of strawberries which is a bit overpowering when you first open the packaging but the smell does subside after a bit. The set is coloured to appeal to little girls in a big way but feels more flimsy and less "real" than the Sylvanian Families set. This did not put off the little girls that played with it one bit. They loved playing with the doll, putting her in the cafe, moving all the pieces around. Again, lots of little pieces to get lost but that means there is a lot to keep them occupied with imaginary play. Overall, the girls gave this a big thumbs-up. As a parent, I would be happy to buy this too as it doesn't require purchasing other sets to be of any use, although other Strawberry Shortcake sets are available.

Come back tomorrow to The Five Fs blog when we will have more reviews of toys - but next time, ones that largely appeal to boys.

(I was provided with the above toys to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)