TapFish iPod app: "You can express your feelings once every 6 hours"

I downloaded a fish app, TapFish, yesterday for my iPod, and I tried to give my fishes some love, but I was met with the following statement: “You can express your feelings once every 6 hours”. So I clicked “OK” – since it was the only thing to click.. But it was not ok. I wanted to love my fish! So after being irritated for about 3 seconds, I thought about how ridiculous that statement was.

I understand that with “real” things, the over-showing of emotion, or trying to express yourself at the “wrong” time is not a good look. This will either result in you being labelled as clingy or crazy – no one wants that!! But there is a right time.. Just like how you don’t pick a fight or break up with someone on their birthday, or Valentines day – this is the WRONG time!

I  had a professor in university who started the first class of the semester off by saying “if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, DO NOT break up with them around the end of the semester, break up with them now. If you are looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend, DO NOT do so at the end of the semester, go out and do it now”. His argument was that starting and ending relationships at the end of the term was a bad idea, as you have more important things to worry about – like reading Wuthering Heights for the 18th time! He was right.. somewhat. But, is there ever a perfect time to deal with the difficult stuff in life?

And when is the “right” time to express ones’ feelings? For your digital fish, it is apparently only once every 6 hours. But TapFish is just an app, what about in real life?

I’m one of those people who despise talking about their feelings. Even if I’m mad, I won’t talk about it. I have to wallow alone in silence, and then after a while, I’m fine. The tenants finally moved into my house over the weekend, so I can finally relax. But the last few weeks were really tough. Going through things and deciding what to keep was probably the most difficult part.

My mum kept a lot of family bits and pieces for me to go through – including a lot of my father’s things, which were, at times, quite hard to look at. There were diaries, photographs, sketches, paintings, beautiful books. As much as I’d love to keep everything, sometimes, it’s just not feasible. Thankfully, I was able to keep a lot of stuff, and managed to get through with a minimal number of nervous breakdowns. It took a lot of trying to calm myself down to stop myself from snapping at everyone. Thankfully, the people around me understood that it’s not easy, and did stop to hear me out when I griped about things.

I think arguments and disagreements are necessary and healthy sometimes.. I like slamming the odd door and throwing stuff But saying that, we have to try to remember to be receptive to what others are saying – even though sometimes it would feel better to throw something at them or smack them in the head. Remember that you have to find the right moment, open your ear holes, and listen!! Patience is key! x

I think it’s time to give my digital fish some love!

So I decided that I wouldn’t read the books or watch the movies because I’m way too cool to get all excited about something that teenage kids and their mothers are freaking out about.. WRONG. So wrong! So I finally got over myself and started to read Twilight.. and I liked it! A LOT!

Within about 2 weeks starting to read Twilight, I had worked my way through all 4 books. With no more Twilight to read, I started reading Milton’s Paradise Lost.. I’m not sure how Milton would feel about being behind Twilight on my reading list – not too happy I suppose!! Maybe he would have liked Twilight haha!

I was very upset that I had finished them all – hopefully the author will decide to release Midnight Sun eventually… So now, all there is to do is watch the movies! I hope I don’t hate them! lol It’s interesting to see how you interepret a book in your head when you compare it to the film adaptation of it. Like I’m sure most people’s versions of Edward are nothing like Robert Pattinson – mine certainly wasn’t! It was like a combination of Daruis plus someone else.. I can’t think who… I don’t know, “my” Edward just didn’t look like Pattinson at all..

Anyway, enough about my semi-transformation over to crazy twi-hard fan-girl – or fanpire as they have become to be known… I’ll let you know how bad my obession gets after I watch the movie. If the first thing I do is to start reading the books all over again and also to download an iPod version of the movie, then it means I’m 100% obsessed!

Speaking of books, this week was/is READ AN E-BOOK WEEK!!! So those of you with an iPod Touch, iPhone, e-reader etc, bust it out and start reading something!!! Reading is a great form of procrastination that I love! I have an iPod Touch, and I’m in LOVE with my Stanza e-reader. It’s super easy to use, and they have a big selection of free books – which you can download if you have wireless internet. Books are awesome!

Wow, I didn’t mean for that last paragraph to turn into a mini advertisement Anyway, Happy Friday!

Only 109 days until the Twilight Eclipse movie comes out!!! lol omg! I promise I had to Google it – I don’t have a count-down timer on my desktop… I really don’t!! lol

“The Future Is Now”… Is it really??

Some sciency types have developed a new technology that can convert WiFi signals into power. So wherever you are, you can charge your phone – provided it has a USB plug thing in it. This new technology is called Airnegy – smart eh! Since it pulls energy out of thin air, it makes me wonder whether it has any kind of weird health warnings attached to it.. I mean, if it can pull a WiFi signal out of the air and convert it into power, will it be expelling any kind of weird disease inducing signals?!

According to various reports, the Airnegy charging device should hit the shelves sometime this year, and will retail for around $40. Not too bad, but since it’s a USB plug, you won’t be able to charge things like your iPod etc. I guess if all phones are to be made with USB charging ports, then it will be beneficial. The worst thing ever is to have your cell phone battery die when you’re nowhere near the charger or a socket!!!

If you don’t like the idea of a portable WiFi powered charging unit and would prefer nothing more than a fizzy beverage, then this next one is for you. We have yet another Nokia concept phone – but this one runs on sweet carbonated soft drinks! 23 year old Miss Zhang, who developed the technology, said that  her idea was to create an eco-friendly battery as current cell phone batteries are the opposite of being environmentally friendly and they’re very expensive to produce.

The only by-products of this cola-powered phone would be oxygen and water and the power would be able to last up to four times as long as a conventional phone battery. Pretty cool!!! All this talk of cola is making me want to have a soda..

There is no release date yet, since this is still just a concept.. But who knows, maybe they’ll develop something that runs on orange peel or something – some kind of biodegradable garbage that we have everyday but would normally throw out.

Do you think the Airnegy device and “cola phone” will be big hits? If you were a crazy scientist, what kind of alternate energy source would you want to develop? And what would it be used for? Let me know in the comments!!!

1. iPods: Can you believe that iPods were launched in 2001 – yet it feels like they’ve been around FOREVER! iPods have completely changed how we deal with music and now – other media like movies and pictures. The new iPod is absolutely incredible. You can surf the web, do your emailing, listen to music, watch movies, with this pocket-sized device. I wonder what hot gadget they will come up with next!
2. Facebook: When facebook first hit the internet, it was only limited to Harvard students. Now everyone and their cat has a facebook page. You watch as people start relationships, end relationships, enter into complicated relationships. You don’t even have remember birthdays anymore. And the apps.. I’m just going to say: FarmVille, Cafe World and Mafia Wars. Facebook has even been blocked from some offices because of it’s popularity.
3. Celeb culture: Everyone and their kid is a celebrity now. Jon & Kate, Octo-mom, people that didn’t win American Idol, Pheoby Price… TMZ changed the way “celebrities” are seen – snapping pics when they’re buying their dog food, jogging, leaving a restaurant or club. And people with famous parents are hot for no good reason: the Geldoff girls, Paris Hilton, the Kardashians. And everyone has their own reality show: The Hills, The City, Jersey Shore, Cake Boss… I mean, MTV doesn’t even have music videos any more. It’s all reality shows. And with Twitter, you can see what these “celebrities” are doing all the time!
4. YouTube: YouTube has become a norm of everyday life. People can be YouTube famous just for posting vlogs (video-blogs). Susan Boyle became an over-night celebrity because of YouTube. It’s crazy!
5. Google: Don’t know something, Google it. Can’t think of the name of Dorothy’s dog from The Wizard of Oz? Google it! Is hard to imagine where we would be without Google. In a world where we need everything right away, Google is really a lifesaver sometimes! His name is Toto by the way!
6. Turning everything into a verb and giving everything nicknames: “I’m facebook-ing”, “Blogging”, “Google it”, “Wikipedia it”, “DVR-ing”. It seems there are new words everyday. Tweeting (when you’re posting things on Twitter), PWNED, Sexting, Tweens, Twi-Hards (Twilight Fans). And nicknames for famous couples are everywhere: Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag from The Hills became Spidi, Brad Pitt & Angelina became Brangelina.. I could keep going but I won’t. And Dancing With The Stars became DWTS, and America’s Next Top Model became ANTM..
7. Starbucks: I don’t drink coffee, but I love a hot chocolate from Starbucks or any other coffee joint. And those people with the crazy Starbucks coffee orders: Grande, chai latte, no fat, no foam, no water, soy, triple shot, extra hot, whipped cream, sprinkles.. I don’t know, I just made that up, but it’s probably a legit coffee! (minus the no water part). But people get crazy with their coffees.. It secretly bothers me when people have these ridiculous orders. If I worked at Starbucks, I would probably only last about 2 minutes. Some “non-fat, extra foam, soy” person would end up with double cream thrown at them!
8. Airports: Do you remember when you didn’t have to take your shoes off in the airport? Or when they gave you real metal cutlery and glass cups on the plane? Or when you could bring knitting needles, sewing needles, a bottle of water onto the plane with you? I think there was a rule where mothers who brought formula or milk for their babies, they would have to taste it before being allowed to take it on board with them. Terrorism changed everything.
9. Shoes: Uggs & Crocs. Uggs became the hottest accessory for cold toes everywhere! Even people in hot climates were wearing the wool lined winter boots with shorts. And Crocs. You either love them or hate them. There were even internet groups dedicated to destroying the shoes.
10. GPS: There’s no excuse for you to get lost anymore. No one uses maps, because everyone has GPS. There was a story of a couple driving 400 miles to the wrong destination because they typed the destination name wrong into their GPS. Oops!

Maybe by 2020, we’ll be flying, teleporting, it’ll be like the Matrix – just upload things into your braincells that you want to learn. No, I’m just kidding. I don’t think I would like that. With the modern fast paced modern day lifestyle, the little things seem to be thrown aside. Things are popular for only a short time, hot things become not hot so fast. Everything needs to be the newest and the best. Just little things like making your own pizza instead of buying a pre-made one, and making your own flower arrangements or centre-piceces instead of buying them can be really rewarding and fun! Even drinks can be brought pre-mixed like martinis and cocktails. I think modern technology is amazing, but we should not forget the simple things like apple picking, pretty flowers, baking a cake or making snowmen!

What do you think the hottest things of the last decade have been?

These are gifts for when the recipient already owns everything and when money is no object

Skybar Wine System WP1000 – $999.99

Imagine a drinks fountain made for your finest wines. It stores, chills and pours up to 3 bottles of wine and preserves them for up to 10 days. It’s great if you need a new topic of conversation for a wine and cheese night. It’s pretty cool! And actually the parts for it aren’t like $200 each; everything is less than $50 – except replacement glass panels which are only $70. If I was loaded, this would be on my Christmas list.. Along with some wine and cheese!

Platinum & Diamond iPhone 3GS – ~$40,000

Need to call your friends to invite them to your wine & cheese event featuring your brand spanking new Skybar? Then why not use your platinum and diamond iPhone 3GS? No, it’s not a case, the original body of the iPhone is recreated in platinum and the apple logo is made of 56 VVS1 diamonds. On the diamond scale of perfection, VVS1 (very very slightly imperfect) is third in line behind IF (internally flawless) and FL (flawless). There is also the girl version which comes in Rose Gold with pink diamonds, which will set you back around $36,000. And finally, you can purchase the worlds most expensive iPod Touch to go with your iPhone for just over $250,000. Check out more creations at stuarthughes.com

Underwood Biometric Trolley Case – $11,000

Travel in James Bond style with this biometric trolley case. Using fingerprint recognition, your documents and belongings will travel in maximum security – and maximum style as the cases are made with the finest Italian leather.

The Ultima Nine Watch Winder Cabinet – ~$2,500

A beautiful case for automatic watches. This cabinet can store up to 15 watches. It is a beautiful case made of walnut wood, that is perfect for the most serious of watch collectors. Check out some of the other products on Rapport London’s site. The carbon fibre ones are beautiful.

String Cashnetta – $180

The brand of this yarn is called String – doesn’t sound very impressive right, but it is sold in a high end New York boutique. It looks cheap compared to the rest of my list, right? WRONG. This is WOOL.. Granted, it is 100% cashmere wool, but still! $180 per ball!? And here I was thinking that knitting was the economical thing to do… Maybe a nice pair of platinum knitting needles with diamonds at the ends would compliment this wool nicely! The price of this stuff makes a cashmere sweater in a store look cheap!

Alright, I think that’s enough luxury for this post. Have you seen any other ridiculously expensive things? Share them with us in the comments section below!

I was super excited to play this game, I mean, you’re controlling a monkey in a ball – what isn’t fun about that!! But I found it too difficult to control and I got really frustrated because I couldn’t get past level 2.. If you don’t mind paying, then this game is fun to try, the characters are cute. But I just didn’t have the patience…

There are so many apps out there for the iPhone and iPod Touch. We really are spoilt for choice.

Here are my favourite free and paid apps.

Super Monkey Ball – (CDN$3.99/£2.39 GBP)

I was super excited to play this game, I mean, you’re controlling a monkey in a ball – what isn’t fun about that!! But I found it too difficult to control and I got really frustrated because I couldn’t get past level 2.. If you don’t mind paying, then this game is fun to try and the characters are definitely very cute. But I just didn’t have the patience…

Sim City (CDN$4.99/£2.99 GBP)

What can I say. Obviously since the screen size on the iPod/iPhone is considerably smaller, the interface isn’t going to be the same as it is on a computer. But, saying that, it is a really good representation of the PC game. The controls are a little difficult at first, but quite easy to get used to. If you are a fan of the PC version, then you will probably like this game a lot. I’m definitely going to stick with it…

Tap Tap Revenge 2 / Tap Tap Revenge 3

Tap Tap Revenge 2 is Free – which is a huge selling point (ha), it has enough free songs to keep me occupied. I think for a free app, is it amazing and a must have. The graphics are super and there are always new songs for free – if you don’t want to pay for song bundles.

Tap Tap Revenge 3 is CDN$0.99/£0.59 GBP – it’s not expensive, so if you’re willing to pay, then go for it. Again, like Tap Tap 2, it has quite a wide range of free songs and a lot of song packs that you do have to pay for. But with this version you can use in-game coins, that you are awarded after completing each level, to get new songs or alternatively you can spend them on clothes for your avatar. Thankfully, these coins are free!!

I prefer Tap Tap 2, as Tap Tap 3 has too many things going on. Avatars, clothing, etc.

Bejewelled 2 (CDN$2.99/£1.79 GBP)

This is the amazing PC game on your iPod. The graphics are crisp, the sounds are clear, the controls are easy. It’s hours of fun and great value. If you liked playing this on a console or PC, you will love this version.

Monopoly World (CDN$4.99/£2.99 GBP)

This is a great spin on the classic family game. You can create your empire with famous world cities. The game operates on touch screen control and you shake your device to roll the dice. You can play against the computer, or with up to 4 other people with play and pass, or over WIFI. Another great thing is that you can listen to your itunes library if you don’t want to listen to the plinky game music!

Rat On The Run – FREE!!!

This is a FANTASTIC game! It’s so much fun. You have to collect the cheese for Ratty and dodge the obsticles that come in your way. Also included in this game is Rat On A Scooter which I’m addicted to. It’s hours of fun and it’s a FREE APP!!!!

The company that made Rat On The Run – Donut Games – is doing a Free Games Campaign and also has a few other games that are free.

Check out Spikey’s Bounce Around, Lucky Coins and Cows in Space. They are all free and very fun!