The following post is one of those blinding moments of inspiration that hits us once in a while and all I can see are benefits.

 Standby mode uses a constant drain of power and the older the device the more the power drain. The total cost to the average household has been reckoned to be up to 10% of the total electricity cost that is lost while devices are in standby mode.

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Delta Insurance have recently had a revamp on their website. They aim to provide good quality cover for people over the age of 65. As a broker they have a wide range of policies on offer and can cover activity holidays and even accommodate medical problems and medical conditions, sometimes at normal terms. [Read more →]

I enjoyed the first 2 films. As I saw them in the wrong order I probably  rate them differently to most people with the 2nd being far better.  To recap the story so far.  Jason Bourne has had his identity wiped, suffering from amnesia his memory has been lost and he has flashbacks  of assasinations he  had carried out.    

This 3rd film answers a lot of the questions raised in the first films. Essential elements of this film include evasion of a grab squad, gripping car chase and plenty of close call situations. Its nice to see old characters back in this film and the pace of the film is such that you are completely sucked into the story from beginning to end. This is better than both of the previous films and brings the Bourne story to a satisfying ending.

When this comes out on DVD I will certainly be buying it – I’m sure I missed so many subtle plot twists like I did with the first 2 movies. They may be a fourth installment but they have wrapped up so many elements of the story we will need to develop a new character.

Monsters inc is refreshingly original and very funny.

The monsters city is powered by the screams of children collected when Monsters Inc special agents go out in to the children’s world but modern children are getting harder to scare.

Children are harmful to the Monsters and the monsters are scared of the children – one day a child comes through the doorway into the Monsters Inc Factory – causing widespread panic in the Monsters world.

Although this movie is about monsters there is nothing sinister of scary in it and the plot is actually pretty good for a title aimed at kids. The video cd starts with an animated scene with some birds on a telegraph wire – it’s pretty funny and there is a trailer for the upcoming disney release – Finding Nemo looks quite funny probably similar in style to a little mermaid.

This film is very entertaining – don’t miss it!

Which technology is best for you and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

LCD has long been around in the form of laptop screens. Recently innovations in design technologies have made panels faster to react to colour changes without the blurring or smearing associated with older ones. This has led to an obvious application as a television.

LCDs are compact and light and come in affordable sizes up to about 32-34 inches and at contrast ratios of 1000:1. LCDs consume less power than an equivalent CRT based screen.

Plasma screens are often percieved as the luxury end of tvs. The advantages are the sizes available upto 50 inches with larger ones in production already. The colour rendition is sharp and bright and contrast ratios are typically much higher than the average LCD screen. The downsides of Plasma screens are the facts that they produce a lot of heat and consume lots of power.

For most people an LCD screen would be the ideal choice but for afficionados who really need the larger screen areas and the higher contrast ratios then Plasma is the choice for you.

Which things do you need to remember when you buy a Plasma TV?
Flat Screens avoid distortion to the picture are less straining on the eye and do not reflect light as well if the Cat knocks the curtain slightly open!

Dolby surround – best with a 5 or 6 speaker set up really immerses you into the film jack up your DVD player to best quality sound system you can afford. – the virtual dolby is getting good from just 2 or 3 speakers but the sound is rather flat and somewhat muffled. 20RMS is about minimum acceptable for DVD ignore PMPO measurements as these are rather vague.

A subwoofer is really good for enhancing the sound range and means that the other speakers in the room can be quite small.

Picture in picture – keep up with the footy scores while the husband watches a cookery or fashion tips programme !!!!

Aspect ratio – watch films as the director intended typically go for a 16:9 aspect ratio but make sure there are a number of stretch options for TV broadcast in 3:4 ratio or peoples bums will look FAT in this screen & Wide or have their heads cut off – some TV’s stretch the outside portions more than the centre. The important thing is that you have a number of options open to you so you can pick one setting for the newsreader and another for a documentary on snakes.

Inputs – SCART, Composite Video or better still HDMI – essential for best image quality but only if you have a VIdeo and DVD player that supports it. If the screen takes computer RGB input you can play your latest games in cinema scope but the resolution is usually quite low around 990 x 600 or 1280 x 720 pixels unless you get a Hi-Definition model which supports 1080p and 720p.

To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this movie. I had played with the toys as a lad – ah those were the days. I didn’t really see how they could make a movie from a collection of toys but a movie they have made.

It is a heady mix of action, adventure sci-fi and a big helping of humour stirred in for effect. The special effects are really something else and the nearest film to it in technical terms must be I-robot.

I can’t wait to get this one on DVD and may even splash out for the limited edition box set version.

Official site with trailers etc..  

When I first saw this advertised I thought oh no not another cutesy cartoon. When I saw this film I throroughly enjoyed it. It is funny and irreverent and has lots of hilarious Gross out touches!

The Shrek is an Ogre and lives in a fairytale land contentedly in his swamp. Lord Farquaad banishes all of the other fairytale folk to the swamp and Shrek sets about sorting this out.

He ends up going on a daring mission to rescue a princess – the only princess I know with attitude. There are lots of nice touches and jokes for the grown ups throughout this feature and on second and third viewings you appreciate more of the ones you missed first time around.

The voices of Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and John Lithgow bring the characters to life.

You don’t need children as an excuse to watch this movie – I recommend that you add it to your DVD collection today – This is GREAT!

We all love curry – it has become the nations favourite food. We can save money by making curries at home following these simple instructions. Unlike other recepies we will not specify exact quantities we are going to discuss the style of cooking and allow plenty of room for experimentation. [Read more →]

Espresso coffee – often wrongly referred to as Expresso is a very strong black coffee that you make only from 100% Arabica Beans served in a very small cup. Espresso forms the basis of many other types of coffee such as Latte, Americano, Cappuccino etc… [Read more →]

Lara Croft – the ubiquitous adventurer  well known for her large    pair of ………… pistols!

Fans of the game will love this movie – It’s about 80% action 30% story and 20% Dialogue – Ok so It’s not very well balanced. Region 1 cut is different from the Region 2 cut. Essential elements of the game are retained and the film stays true to the Tomb Raider tradition.

The movie is a big budget production and has brilliant locations and a ridiculous amount of hardware for Lara to destroy. The opening scene is really well executed. Chris Barry makes an excellent butler and the movie is generally well thought out and fast paced with some amazing locations.