Review: Lords of Football PC Game

Introduction

This was a game that my Dad couldn't wait for, he was intrigued by the hype surrounding Lords of Football's original game play, and as soon as it was released, he couldn't wait to get his hands on it. 

Overview
 
Lords of football is a combination of Sims and Football Manager, because there's the ability push your team to the top of the league, and to move and 'control' players. What's more is they even have their own 'famous people' attitudes (with addictions to gambling and err... other things). It's definitely a breakthrough in the football gaming sector; there hasn't been anything with this much realism. 

Game Play

This is a pretty decent game, with some clever touches. The main one being the ability to actually pick up a player and drag them to anywhere on the screen (at any time), it’s hilarious and as time constraints are an issue, if a player is time wasting, you can quickly drag him back to the training field. I also like that various parts of the game data can be edited, such as team colours, names etc. 

My favourite aspect of this game is the ability to pause the game during a match, and tell players what to do e.g. ‘pass’, ‘attack goal’, shoot’. The controls for this take a while to get used to, but it's incredibly useful; in the event of a 1-1 tie where you have the last kick of the game, rather than let the player try it himself, you can choose ‘shoot’ and direct the shot; giving you a final goal. 

Improvements

The most annoying aspect of the game is the transfer system; because you have no control over who you can buy. You can tell the owners what players you need for a specific position and select preferred attributes of the potential addition, but you can't search for players and do the deal yourself. It's something that makes you miss Football Manager. 

Bottom Line

My overall opinion of this game is that it's well worth buying, being a new playing concept for football management games, and despite the few disappointments, it’s a very immersive game that I feel any football fan would enjoy. This game attracted me because of its ‘Sims-like’ qualities, (I saw my Dad playing it and I really liked the concept) although I’d still love an ice-skating version (can't help it!). But I'm looking forward to future updates to this game, because I’ve enjoyed playing it, and I’m sure it can only get better. Pity the money wasn’t real though! 

You do need a STEAM account to play it and currently it can only be purchased in PC platform online (although I can see this game being hugely popular for the Xbox). Also, make sure to check the PC specs so you're not left disappointed!

-Naomi
 

Review: Gone Digging's Engraved Antique Heart Trinket Box

I was over the moon to have received this beautiful trinket box from Gone Digging. It’s exactly my style, and I was really impressed when it arrived. I’ve actually been after the Engraved Oblong Trinket Box for a few years (that, and a giant retro space hopper) but this is similar in design and I actually now prefer this one because of the red interior, and the little lion head feet.

The Engraving

You can have up to 8 characters on each of two lines and I asked if I could have my full name engraved and that wasn’t a problem. I’m very impressed with the engraving, it’s very neat, and the font is ‘outlined’ which I feel really compliments the design. I think personalised gifts are the best kind of gifts, just adding a name or message makes it that much more treasured. I didn’t receive this from anyone close to me, but if I had of I would have liked it even more.

The Size

The only downside to this gift is that it’s a little small, but it is advertised as a trinket box. I have my two favourite necklaces stored in it (both heart shaped and sentimental) and I’d say another two could fit in there. For your convenience, I’ve measured the trinket box. Externally, it’s approximately 9cm long, 9cm wide and 4cm tall. Internally, it’s approximately 7cm long, 8.5cm wide and 3cm tall.

The Design

As I’ve said, I love the design. It’s very shiny, has contrasting black accents to highlight the vintage patterns and it has three feet which have what I think are little vintage lion heads. Inside (the bottom) has a luxurious red velvet covering, and the top has an intricate ‘embossing’. It opens and closes easily, and the weight makes it feel like a quality piece. The underside also has a splash of red, with a heart of suede like material. 

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for something to impress a lady, or are seeking forgiveness... I think the majority of women would adore this trinket box. At £22.99 (£3.50 P&P), it’s a good price and it can be personalised for many different events.

*I received this product as a prize from a Gone Digging Pinterest giveaway, there was no requirement for a review.

-Naomi

Review: Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate

Wondershare’s video converter ultimate is another great piece of software because it brings a lot to the table, including: a video converter, a burner, a video editor, a media player (Wondershare player) as well as a handy video downloader. It’s our second video converter review, and we received a license code to register it free of charge (for the purpose of this review).


Video Converter

Wondershare’s video converter offers a vast range of conversion formats. It lists them according to branded devices (they have your iPod, iPhone, and other apple devices, they also have devices for brands like Samsung, HTC, Blackberry and Nokia, and even consoles and TVs), and in addition, they also list general formats in categories including: audio, video, HD and 3D.

I’m a big fan of converters listing devices as well as formats, it’s a great touch because a lot of the time, you won’t necessarily know the format you need (off the top of your head), so providing your device is listed (and there is a good range included), it’ll make converting easier for the ‘typical’ person.

In terms of speed, Wondershare’s video converter is advertised as offering 30x Faster Video Conversion (and there’s proof of this in comparison to other competitors’ products), however compared to Digiarty’s WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe, unfortunately that’s not the case. This was rather disappointing, but it still has the benefits of a lot of formats and the output quality being rather decent.

Video Burner

The burning process is also easy to use, but what I think is worth commenting on are the 11 menu screen templates provided. These are more suited to home users, with Christmas, Birthday, and Wedding themed designs (to name a few), however there are also a couple of designs that are more versatile for a video presentation, and of course, there’s a standard ‘design-free’ template as well.

Video Editor

My favourite aspect of this software is the video editor! This is such a great feature to find in a video converter package, and I think it’s simply perfect for the home video market (not to mention professionals, and small businesses). There are crop and trim features which you’d expect to find in a video editor, but there are also a really nice range of video effects (including a preview of effects during video play), certainly more than what you’d find as standard in windows movie maker. These range from effects like greyscale, and sketch, to pink glittery frames, bubbles, and even snow!

But an even better feature particularly for businesses, YouTube users, and employees is the Watermark feature. You can add text or an image (e.g. your logo) that can be faded into a watermark and this gives a nice professional touch; great if you have a video presentation, or even just to add some protection against others stealing your videos.

   

Video Downloader

The video downloader feature included is very easy to use, it literally only requires you to add the URL of the video you want to download, and the destination folder!

Media Player (Wondershare Player)

I personally think the Wondershare Player is better than Windows’ Media Player! It has a much sleeker design, and even offers a snapshot feature; perfect if you’re splitting a home video into categories! It has many resize options, and it’s a pleasure to use.

Bottom Line

This software outperforms Digiarty’s converter on design and additional features, but as its conversion software, the most important factor in my opinion is speed, and unfortunately Wondershare’s video converter ultimate is approximately five times slower than Digiarty’s.

I’ve found this software really easy to use; the design is modern but very user friendly, and it looks great. This is one I’d definitely recommend for the household (especially as it’s currently cheaper than Digiarty’s software if you use our links), and whilst I won’t be using it for converting, this is definitely staying installed, because I’ll be making good use of its other features!

Super Savings

This software is for sale at the moment for $59.95, however, I scored some 50% off links (non affiliate), so anyone wanting to purchase this software, can get it through these links at half the price ($29.00)!

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate for Windows
Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate for Mac

-Naomi

Review: Parcelgenie App and 30% Discount

Parcelgenie

Parcelgenie is a free app that even I can use (on my Xperia X8!). It can be downloaded from the Android market, Google Play Store, iTunes, and you can even get it on your Windows phone, or Windows 8. It’s the perfect solution to gift-giving when you want to make someone in your life’s day a little bit brighter (or when you forget an important date!).

I got in touch with Parcelgenie for ‘in-app photos’ that I wanted to include in our Parcelgenie review (just to show the process better), and they kindly provided me purchase photos, in addition to codes for free items of my choice. This hasn’t changed my opinion of their app, as I was intending to write the same view, but it has enabled me to include more details about the process as a buyer and recipient.

 
Buying a Gift

The idea behind Parcelgenie is that they act as the middlemen between you and your intended recipient. You select a gift, add a customised message (if desired), input the recipient’s mobile number (either from memory or sourced from your contacts), and then pay for the gift by Premium SMS, PayPal, or by Card (credit or debit). It’s also on the payment page (with the above options) where you can click ‘add voucher’ to add a discount code (if you’re lucky enough to have one).

If you haven’t purchased a gift before, you’ll be asked to VERIFY your phone, this requires a simple reply to a text message with the word ‘VERIFY’.

Receiving a Gift

If a gift is purchased for you, you’ll get a text message stating:

“A friend just sent you a real gift via Parcelgenie.com. Reply for free to this Text, starting with the word DELIVER, followed by your NAME and ADDRESS”.
 
I was initially a little worried because I didn’t have any credit, but as it says it’s free to reply! No cost to you, just an extra bit of excitement about getting a gift. After replying, you’ll then receive a text letting you know when your gift has been dispatched and the message that your sender included.

Then all you have to do is wait for the Postman to call, and then rip open your parcel (easily identified with little Parcelgenie stickers), and inside you’ll find a pretty purple and red packaged gift.

 
My Gifts

My first experience of Parcelgenie was receiving an adorable little box of the most delicious fudgy cake balls! These arrived in a brown and mint green box with a little brown ribbon tied in a bow around it. The little card attached to the box also led me to the brand my Honey Bunch, who are the makers of these delightful little treats.

Inside were six fudgy cake balls, half covered in white Belgian chocolate, and half covered in (I think milk) Belgian chocolate, and many of them had some sprinkles on top for detail. My favourites were the white chocolate ones, and they were heavenly!

I think I would always love to receive those as a gift (obviously not every day or I’d be the size of a house), but if you don’t know what to order for someone, I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with these. The only downside is the ‘eat-by-date’, as this was only a few days after receiving.

My second experience of Parcelgenie was ordering ‘Hello Cupcake’ as a gift for my little sister, this was completely received with open arms, and I even had the pleasure of editing the message to direct it to 'our little Princess'. The box was wrapped in the usual Parcelgenie packaging, but unfortunately this one had a tear in it. I just removed the packaging, as the box (holding the cupcake shaped chocolates) was nicely decorated with a little silver elastic bow. I didn’t get to try any, because she devoured them (and of course the first one to vanish was the cupcake with the pink detail). I’d considered ordering her ‘Sweeties for girlies’, but I didn’t think it was special enough for a birthday; more like a little surprise treat.

 
Bottom Line

Parcelgenie is a free app which currently has a reasonably small inventory of gifts (many being food or sweet related), and I think it has great potential to be something that’s hugely successful (mainly by adding some more gifts).

Although I’ve seen some people complaining about the prices, I feel they’re reasonable. I think what people forget is that they have to include Royal Mail postage costs in their pricing. And I don’t know about you, but I’m always willing to spend more on a gift for someone else than on something for myself anyway. But what I like about this app is the huge benefit of convenience. You order, they wrap it (very handy for Christmas) and send it out in the post, and you can order from anywhere (providing you have internet access).

The only thing I’m not entirely comfortable with is paying by PayPal with my phone, it’s probably just me, but I feel like phones are less secure (especially if you use WiFi hotspots regularly), and although you can pay by Premium SMS; that comes with extra cost. I would really love it if you could buy gift vouchers online (outside of the app) to use in it.

 
Super Savings

Parcelgenie would also like to offer you all a very nice 30% off! Simply enter: F9E1G4 to see a hefty 30% reduction in the price of any gift!



-Naomi

Review: WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

WinX HD video converter deluxe is a lovely piece of software for anyone to own, it offers the ability to convert video files across both HD and standard file formats. It also lists types of devices specifically with the file formats that they require e.g. ‘to Apple, -to iPod’, which is really handy.

I trialled the WinX HD Video Converter deluxe for over two weeks, and what I like most is the easy and simplistic user interface. It wouldn't take anyone long to learn how to convert video files or download YouTube videos.

 

Video Converting
 
Converting a video with this software is literally a 3 step process: add the video file you want to convert, choose the desired output file format, and then click ‘Start’. If you already have the video file for example on your desktop you can drag and drop it rather than click on the ‘add file’ button which can be more convenient and can make the process quicker (particularly if the video file is hidden within a few folders). All of these simple steps are identified in the software ‘getting started’ screen, so again I think most people would be able to start converting their videos very quickly.

The benefit of this software in comparison to the WinX Free AVI to WMV Converter is that it supports over 210 codecs as opposed to the 30 offered with their free version. The free version didn’t actually have the codecs available to convert my file, whereas the HD Video Converter Deluxe met my needs.

 

 Video Downloads (e.g. YouTube)

Another useful feature of the WinX HD Video Converter deluxe is its YouTube downloading facility, but it isn’t locked purely to YouTube as you can download videos from Vimeo, dailymotion, google and a number of other sites (which are listed when you click on the ‘YouTube’ button).

Again, this is another function that’s easy to use, you simply need to paste the url for the video you want to download in the box that appears after clicking the YouTube button, and then click ‘Ok’. Both the download and video conversion steps are available during the process.

Unlike some other converting programs, I’ve found the WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe Software to retain high levels of quality after converting. That’s definitely something you want in a conversion program, so again it ticks the boxes.

 

Crop Tool

Another nice feature is the ability to ‘crop’ a video which can be done by selecting the ‘effect’ button. This is rather handy, especially as I was initially intending to create a screen capture video for this software (I lack a high enough quality screen capture software), but this feature would have enabled me to ‘zoom in’ purely around the required window so none of my desktop files are shown.


 

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, I think this is the only video converter software that you’ll probably ever need, the wide range of converting formats available and the specific inclusion of file types for devices that most people own (such as iPods and phones) will appeal to many for its ease and convenience. The interface is very user friendly, and the design’s simple but the product does convert well. It also has some nifty features including the ‘crop tool’ and the YouTube downloader; a good all-round video converter. It's typically available for around $35.

*A free copy of this software was kindly provided by Digiarty for the purpose of this review.

-Naomi
 

Review: The Craft Box Company - The Button Bracelet Box

The Craft Box Company are a new business trying to leave their mark on the world by creating and selling a range of DIY craft boxes. Currently they have a small range of three boxes, but have already created another two projects that are on their site and will be available to buy very soon (one of which is The Birds Nest Necklace Box, that I'd personally really love).

The Button Bracelet Box

I saw that the Craft Box Company were looking for reviewers, so I got in touch with them because what they offer was something that really appealed to me. I was secretly hoping for this box (The Button Bracelet Box) because button bracelets are something that I've always wanted to create; although I love pearls so I would have been happy receiving The Pearl Earring Box too. The Needlecase Box didn't appeal to me as much as the others because I'm not that confident with sewing by hand, although I would have happily given it a go; and providing no complicated stitches are required I'm sure I would have been successful.

Contents

This box came with a set of instructions, a pair of round-nose pliers, a T-bar bracelet, 30x jump rings, 30x buttons and a little pink organza gift bag.

• Instructions

I found the instructions easy to follow, but a little hard to read. Although I like that the same 'Craft Box Company' font has been used throughout, I think it would be better if the actual instructions were presented in a clearer font, and a little bit of colour was used to highlight each step. The paper used is a little bit too transparent, which means that if you're holding the instructions in your hand, the front and back pages blend in to what you're reading. This could easily be fixed with thicker paper.

• Pliers

I was pleasantly surprised by the pair of round-nose pliers in the box, and although they were stated as being included, these ones match the design of my flat nose pliers (how sweet), and are a tool that can be used for other projects in the future; so including these really 'upped' the box's value for money.

• Buttons

I didn't like the design of every button supplied, but when combined, they created a very quirky style of bracelet; especially with the difference in size as well as colour.
 

• Gift Bag and Bracelet

Including the gift bag makes this box perfect for a wide range of people, those wanting to create the bracelet for themselves and those who want to create the bracelet for someone else. My younger sister (7) was really interested in what I was doing, and if the bracelet wasn't so big (it's actually a little bit too big for me), she probably would have convinced me to let her have it (she has the ability to be exceptionally sweet when she wants to be). This made me think that mini kits/little girl projects would be a really good idea.

The Box

The design of the box is simple, it's plain white but has The Craft Box Company's logo,'The Button Bracelet Box £5.00' written, and a photo of the bracelet (when completed) stuck to the center. I think the photo of the bracelet is too dark,and this would personally put me off buying it if it was for sale for example in a store near me, but the rest is fine and it could easily be fixed by lightening the photo and enhancing the colour.

Bottom Line

I really enjoyed this box, it took about 45 minutes to complete including choosing what order to arrange the buttons, putting everything together, taking photos (and enjoying a bacon sandwich halfway through). What I've been left with is a very unique bracelet, created by me, and I think that's worth the price of this box. But I also have a pair of round nose pliers that I can use for other crafty projects in the future, which is why I think this box offers excellent value for money. The presentation quality is something that I'm not entirely impressed with, but it's something that The Craft Box Company can easily improve.

*This product was received free of charge for the purpose of this review.

-Naomi

Review: Ju Ju Glow In The Dark Wellies

Product

Owning wellies that glow in the dark is a very appealing concept, and JuJu (a Northampton based manufacturer) is the brand behind these slightly transparent blue welly boots.

You may already be looking at the pictures thinking why on earth is she wearing welly boots on such a sunny day? And the answer explains how these welly boots glow in the dark; through light (pretty impressive).

Basically, the longer you wear them for (or leave them out in the sunshine), the longer and brighter they glow in the dark. And rather than simply glowing blue, they actually change colour and give off a neon green glow.

Be warned though, the whole boot needs to see sunlight in order for the whole boot to glow, otherwise you’ll suffer from glow in the dark welly boot toes! (Not a good look).

These are my first pair of welly boots in about 8 years, and they’re really comfortable! The heel adds about an inch to your height; so you’re steady on your feet but thankfully  that much further away from puddles (who likes soggy feet?).

Bottom Line

I’m really impressed with these wellies, the build quality and unusual glow-in-the-dark capabilities make them a lot of fun to wear in the dark, and they really inject a lot of personality! The only issue is getting a hold of them as they tend to sell out really quickly.

*These wellies were purchased by myself, without any required review.

-Naomi