Archive for March, 2009

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Don’t Believe Everything You Read

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Hi everyone

It’s Tuesday, and looking at the week ahead I noticed that tomorrow is April Fools Day. Not something I would usually practice, but many do and I find it fun to watch…

So with this thought in mind, I set upon my mission for this weeks blog to search the information highway of Google and have a look at some of the best and worst April Fools.

After searching for a while I came across a hoax made by none other (surprisingly) than a well know food chain, Burger King.

They joined in the mischievous antics when they went to what seemed the great but pointless expense of publishing a full page advert in an American newspaper announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu. This all sounds normal I hear you say. Well the new edition was (wait for it) a Left Handed Whopper! They went on to advertise that this new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper but they were simply rotated 180 degrees anti clockwise for the left handed in society. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up press release revealing that the Left Handed Whopper was a prank made for the day. The ironic thing is that sales went up and there was also high demand for a Right Handed Whopper. Only in America eh?

They say every little helps but surely a whistling carrot was taking it too far?

In 2002, Tesco published an advertisement in The Sun, announcing the successful development of a genetically modified ‘whistling carrot’. Now I know what you’re going to say, “Who would fall for this?” But the convincing advert went on scientifically to explain that the carrots had been specially engineered to grow with tapered air holes in their side. When fully cooked these air holes caused the vegetable to whistle. In the end it was all revealed to be a joke, no doubt leaving millions of rabbits who were now forming bands disappointed. Tut tut

Like everything however, where there’s good, there’s bad. Whilst searching I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Mr Glenn Howlet. This is one April Fools joke that backfired….

This poor chap was on holiday when he got a memo from his office that the deadline of a big report he was working on was brought forward, and was going to be due two weeks early. Even though the date it was due was coincidentally 1st of April, innocent Mr H could not see that it was just a cruel prank from his colleagues. Leaving his holiday resort early he set to work. He worked himself into such a frenzy and panic that he experienced heart palpitations. He then collapsed from the stress, having to take leave from work. As a result he filed for an early retirement, only to then realise that the memo was just a joke. He later sued everyone for damages forcing City Hall to ban employees from ever pulling any more pranks. I guess the joke’s on them now…

Anyway, enough of my stories. If you know of any hoaxes or April fool jokes then share them with us good or bad…

I hope you all have a happy April fools day…..

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Gadgets Look Back At The Week

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Its yet again another Fun Friday!

How did you all get on with your positive week? I started this week by challenging myself and experiencing new things. So when I was offered Monkfish I naturally accepted and didn’t think any else of it…I mean how bad could it be? I like fish?

Little did I know that this so called fish (I could think of other words) was going to be the worst meal I ever had to endure. OK this may be a slight exaggeration, but I am almost certain the experience was made worse by the fact that when sharing this trauma with the gadgets team they felt they need to google me a picture. Well all I can say is never again will I not check what I’m about to devour in future, that way I’ll know what I have agreed to eat does not look like the ‘Elephant Man’ of the sea world.

Wednesday came and my week was on the up as new stock arrived for testing and photographing. Now this may not sound that much of a highlight but I assure you I was very excited to see my personalised office mug. This was of course the drama queen with a little pink character on it complete with little tiara (photo below), the resemblance was uncanny. It didn’t stop there, we all had a great chuckle with the laughing monkey. So simple when rolling around laughing but so effective and the laughter was soo contagious.

Now the best item I thought that came in was the I’m as big as wall chart…whilst measuring the hieght of everyone I found my dreams were shattered. I was under the requirements of what you need to reach to be an astronaut. (Huff!) It seems now I’m forced to rethink my plans to visit the moon this summer holiday. On a cheerier note Dirk was found to be as tall as a Grandmother Clock and before you say it…. yes we know that’s not that tall, bless him. As for Mandy who is tall enough to visit the moon (grrr) I hope it rains and there’s no space on the moon craters because of all the other tourists!

It was back to school for me on Thursday when the opportunity arose to have a play with the gadgets camera and photograph the stock. I was soon redirecting the lights, rearranging the poses of the laughing monkey and getting stuck in with the clicks and flashes… David Bailey eat your heart out! I have to say I definitely prefer to be behind the camera than in front. Shame to admit but this gadgets girl is not exactly going to be Britain’s next top model. I’ll leave the posing to the gadgets!

Till next week…..

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

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Gadgets Taste Test New Walkers Crisps Flavours

Friday, March 27th, 2009

As you may remember from last weeks post we decided to test out all the new flavoured Walkers Crisps. A conclusion has now finally been reached and as promised here are the results!

Yes it has been tough on us. These flavours were not entirely worth the moment on the lips for the life time on the hips….so here we go….

In last place was the Fish and Chips, UGH! Tastes of scampi in soggy batter, not nice and the smell is something else. This was a very unpopular choice….rethink Walkers!

5th place was Onion Bhaji, this did actually taste like an onion bhaji, fairly unspectacular, but tastes a bit too oily and a whole packet would be a challenge for any strong stomach! Never the less not hated unless you’re Mandy who compared it to the smell of body odour….nice!

4th place went to Chilli and Chocolate. This was my personal worst and I barely managed to eat a whole crisp. However others found it had a very delicate chocolate flavour and liked the chilli after-taste. (whatever tickles your taste buds..yuk)

3rd place was Builders Breakfast. OK once you get past the initially over-powering egg taste (which personally killed it for me), it tastes of tomato ketchup with a hint of bacon flavour. Average.

2nd place…Cajun Squirrel. This was a close competitor to first place but just missed out with its inoffensive taste of slight sweet barbecue. Never the less this also was strangely bland and had a hint of flavour which we decided was unknown to man.

Now drum roll please! The winner of the Gadgets Estranged Walkers Crisps Award… goes to Duck and Hoisin. A pleasant taste for a short while, which ensured this finished as our favourite. Even Dirk had no choice but to make this his top choice of crisp, and he normally hates hoisin sauce. Over all it had hints of hoisin, spring onion and cucumber, not forgetting the overriding duck flavour. If we are honest it was the best out of a bad bunch in our opinion.

So there you have it, you just cant beat good old Ready salted or Cheese and Onion!

If you want to share your thoughts on these flavours or join in the debate then let us know.

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When You Shouldn’t Follow The Sat Nav

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

I’ve got a TomTom SatNav, and I’ve found it really useful for visiting friends, finding alternate routes when the Motorways are closed and the like. Unfortunately there are people out there that, despite all the safety warnings advising that a Sat Nav is not a replacement for paying due care and attention to the road and other users, follow the directions blindly. One such case was this one reported on the BBC Website, where some chap ended up with his BMW teetering over the edge of a cliff after he was directed down a Pennine Footpath, and indeed only stopped when his car hit a fence.

This reminded me of the ridiculous directions given out by Google Maps about this time last year, when it advised the best directions for getting from Europe to Northern America was to swim across the Atlantic, as reported here.

I have been and checked Google Maps, and although this particular ‘glitch’ has been removed, I was still able to find the rather amusing instructions below for a journey from San Francisco to Tokyo. I have ringed steps 14 and 28, which are the particularly ridiculous bits.

Click on the image to see full size, or alternately click herefor the page in Google Maps.

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Get Through the Working Week with P.M.A. (Positive Mental Attitude)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Hi everyone

I know the weekend is well and truly over and the next one seems a mere dot in the distance but lets get positive

Its almost officially Spring and you know what that means….

No more nights as dark as the mornings! Warmer weather at last so you can start packing those winter clothes away …OK well maybe I’m getting a bit ahead of myself there!

However it’s a known fact that people are more positive in the sunnier weather than Winter. So let your hair down this week! Just because your stuck in work who’s to say you still cant have some fun. Whether it be treating yourself to a new office toy or simply sharing a comical chat with colleges.

One thing that made me giggle this weekend was the Jonathon Ross show. My (should-be future husband) Vin Diesel was on this show in his almighty deep masculine form. Jonathon Ross decided to make the star speak with helium from a balloon transforming his normal husky voice. Silly and just plain childish I know but non the less kept me chuckling for hours. Take a look for yourself here.

So I’m on a mission this week to keep positive, have a giggle every day, and I encourage everyone else to do so too!

Feel free to write in and let me know how you get on and share your antics with the rest of us.

Happy working everyone!

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Google Streetview – Here’s Looking At You

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Last week saw Google launch its Streetview service for several UK cities. Opinion is somewhat divided over the application. Some claim it is an invasion of their privacy with users able to take virtual tours of the cities that have been mapped. Google counter that with image recognition software faces and number plates are blurred, and all the views are what you would see from public thoroughfares.

Several images have been removed by Google including one of a man leaving a sex shop, and another of a man being sick outside a pub. Google have said that “We want this to be a useful tool and it’s people’s right to have their image removed“. I’m obviously not sure exactly why some of the complaints have been levelled, and I don’t really see this as an invasion of privacy myself. It’s a series of static photo’s after all, and they are not updated on any sort of regular basis, so it’s not as if the images can properly be used to survey a property or area, and Google seem more than happy to remove any images they receive complaints about. Here is one particularly amusing take on the whole thing from satirical website The Daily Mash.

One of the more bizarre sights to be seen is this image of a chap dressed as ‘Wally’, of “Where’s Wally” fame.

Of course I have already sought out my flat, and judging by the picture I would estimate that particular set of photo’s was taken at least 9 or 10 months ago, so not exactly an up to date photographic rendering. Unfortunately Gadgets Towers lies just outside the range of Google Streetview, so I can’t show you our magnificent premises.

Tell us what you think about Google Streetview, or any interesting sights you’ve discovered.

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Gadgets Week

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Hi everyone

I hope you’re all having a feel good Friday!

As it’s the end of the week I thought I’d give you a little snippet of what we’ve been liking and talking about this past week at Gadgets Towers.

At the beginning of this week the gadgets team decided to try out all the new Walkers crisps from Onion Bhaji to Builders Breakfast….I myself think its an injustice to the real bacon butty which you just can’t beat on a Saturday morning but never the less it has left the office munching away. We’ll let you know our final verdict shortly.

On Tuesday all the girls were ‘arrghing’ and boys ‘urrghing’ when we were introduced to what we like to call Spike, the bald hedgehog. Shown in this weeks paper, he’s the only hedgehog with no spines…let’s face it all us girls love an sob story don’t we.

I had an action packed Orange Wednesday night. I watched the new movie ‘Watchmen’. Even though my obvious choices would normally be a chick flick or Disney film the movie still had me at the edge of my seat with its dark entertainment of the original comic books.

With this week being sunny and bright, yesterday we started look at all the great new gadgets we’ll be getting for summer. It didn’t take long before we were reminiscing about the toys we had as kids. Some remember the Space Hopper, and some of the…. dare I say it (cough) younger generation remember many a great time had with a Super Soaker! We would love to know what summer toys remind you of the good old days when you actually had time to play in the garden and not just de-weed it.

Finally today we’ve been discussing and having great fun with the new and much talked about Google Street View. Its amazing to think that the Big Brother eye is there to show all at just the click of a mouse! You should check it out.

I’m hoping the nice weather will continue over the weekend, and I’ll be able to sit out and top-up my tan.

What ever you do this weekend…have a good one!

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Holy Spaceflight Batman

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

On Tuesday March 17th NASA launched their first ever ‘Batronaut’ into space. As reported on the NASA website here the Freetail Bat clawed onto the foam of the external fuel tank while the Shuttle was being prepared for launch.

NASA state on their website that:
“Based on images and video, a wildlife expert who provides support to the center said the small creature was a free tail bat that likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist. The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery’s climb into orbit.”

The Kennedy Space Centre has numerous measures to help prevent animals from the coexisting Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge including warning sirens to deter creatures from getting too close, with the launch team also using radar to watch for birds before a shuttle lift-off. As such, and no doubt what the wildlife experts observed, although not categorically stated in the quote above, was that as the bat was badly injured it would not have survived long in the wild.

Pictures from NASA’s website are shown below.

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Sony TV’s Go Green

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009


Sony have just debuted their latest range of Bravia Televisions, and amongst them is the WE5 ‘Eco TV’. The WE5 is a full 1080p LCD TV available in 40 and 46 inch screen sizes, and although it will help you cut your energy costs Sony have not cut back on quality. The main features that distinguish this particular model from its competitors are:

  • Worlds first micro-tubular HCFL (Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) backlight cuts power consumption by more than 50% when compared with a similar 2008 model.
  • Smart Presence Sensor which switches off the picture when the TV is not being watched.
  • Energy Saving Switch reduces Power Consumption to zero. Some televisions draw power when on standby, or even when turned off but still plugged in. The WE5 Features a handy switch on the side of the television which turns the unit off completely. When turned back on it will immediately return to its’ previous state. A much smarter and more convenient alternative to manually unplugging the TV when it isn’t in use.

With energy consumption of electrical appliances being highlighted ever more, especially when left on standby, it’s good to see manufacturers such as Sony looking at solutions to this problem. No doubt a lot of people find it inconvenient to get in behind the display unit where all the plugs and sockets are hidden away to switch them off and unplug them at the mains, and thus by having an easily accessible switch that does the same job you can encourage people to use it more to cut power consumption when not in use.

Another feather in the cap of the new range of Sony Bravia televisions is their ability to produce superior colour whilst also saving energy. They do this using energy efficient LED’s which are grouped in clusters across the screen. This grouping means that not all the LED’s need to light up at once, thereby saving the amount of energy the television uses.

Find out more about the new Sony WE5, and the rest of the new Bravia Televisions here.

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Happy St. Patricks Day!

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Top of the mornin’ to ya!

What a great way to start off the week than the ever popular celebration of St Patrick’s Day.

Lets face it, any excuse for the Irish to have a drink eh! I should know in my paddy family they rate this day very highly….a day of worship me Dad says (worshipping Guinness more like) in a place of social worship says Mum (more like local pub).

Having been forced into honouring my heritage, early week pub antics will be commencing tonight! No doubt I will receive my annual delivery from Granny which I predict will be either a big green hat or orange curly wig with leprechaun ears attached….not forgetting the shamrock badge that’ll take up the whole of any top I choose to wear.

For all of you not familiar with Ireland and the wonderful world of St Patricks Day here are some tree-mendous…. (sorry bad joke!)…… I mean tremendous Irish facts you may or may not know:

  • It is considered unlucky to wear green in Ireland, except as a garnish on St. Patrick’s Day.
  • Over 10 million glasses of GUINNESS® stout are enjoyed every single day around the world, and 1,883,200,000 pints are sold every year – that’s 1.8 billion, to put it another way
  • Ireland is the worlds only country with a musical instrument for a national symbol, The Harp
  • Celtic rock group the Pogues were originally called “Pogue Mahone,” which translates into “kiss my a**” in Gaelic
  • The Chicago River is dyed green each year for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, shown below in 2008.


If you know of anymore interesting or funny facts about Ireland then feel free to write in.

Anyway for all of those who are celebrating…..here’s to Happy St Patricks Day!

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