Jungle Heat - Android Game

Remarkably similar to 'Friendly Fire', a game I reviewed a while ago, Jungle Heat is another 'build up your base and fight the enemy' type game which moves slowly if you are too mean to pay your way...
The aim of these games is really to get you hooked and then frustrate you into paying real cash in order to progress in the game a bit faster. News Flash - I am too mean to fall for this, I will endeavour to keep playing or just let it slide before resorting to actually parting with hard-earned cash. It's not that I think the creators of the games don't deserve a reward, but I see it this way:
I am playing the game and thus contributing to the global popularity of the game in general - I am encouraging others to part with their cash by playing the game, and thus aiding the creators to make a profit - just don't expect me to actually key in my credit card details at any point...
Jungle Heat seems very popular and the game-play is fairly intuitive as far as I can tell, I haven't actually interacted with any other players as yet as I seem to be just plodding through the initial steps even though I have been playing for about 4 or 5 days. I like the game enough to persevere with it, ad would happily recommend it to those who like this type of app.

EGH Law Firm

In business it often pays to specialize in a niche area of a market, and become expert in specific areas. This has been the philosophy of EGH Law Firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Success in this type of business often comes as a result of good service rather than self-service. Here is a firm that espouses the virtues of serving the community, recognizing the value of this rather than simply helping the firm itself to flourish.
Whilst there is no doubt that the Law can provide a good living for those that practice it, being a successful local business means being part of the community as a whole.

Premier Fantasy League

It's Saturday night, and you are waiting for Match of the Day to come on the BBC... Normally, you just want to find out how your team did, and how you rivals fared... When you get involved with fantasy Football, almost every game may have an impact on your weekend...

I started playing Fantasy Premier League last season, and got the app for my 'phone so that I could get updates on the go. I loved it so much, I got work colleagues involved and almost the whole office is playing it now. To be fair it works much better on a PC, some of the features don't work very well at all on a phone, but you can at least get your weekly score and see how each player performed.

All in all, the app is not a replacement for the online PC version, but when you get hooked, having the information at your finger-tips is a nice feature. So the game play follows the Premier League, you get to choose a squad of 13 outfield players and 2 goal keepers, and you get points for their performance on match day (league appearances only). You get to sell and buy one player per week, players that are injured in reality, don't earn you any points - you put three of your squad on the bench, and they 'play' if one of your team does not play for any reason. The players get points for clean-sheets, goals and assists, they get docked points for yellow and red cards, they get a point for playing, 2 for the full 90 mins. This will test your mettle as a manager and may leave you as frustrated as Arsene Wenger on a bad day... I love it!

Update on Virgin Media

I mentioned my problems and eventual success in getting a new deal from Virgin Media in a previous post:
http://www.munny4hunny.com/2014/01/getting-better-deal-from-virgin-media.html
Well the other day, I had a survey arrive by email for me to rate Virgin Media on their level of service. I took full advantage of this to let them now firstly how disappointed I was after learning that my original call had been a complete waste of time, and secondly how the situation had been rescued on the second call (which I should really have not needed to make).

I submitted the survey yesterday and am wondering if it will get a response - I will be very interested to see if they will respond, and I will be sure to post any news here...

Music lessons

I hear they have excellent music lessons in Sarasota at guitar center, and finding a good teacher is key when learning an instrument.
A good teacher is not only able to play well, but able to impart the knowledge and skills to others to enable them to reach their potential. Not all pupils are able to reach the same standard and a good teacher will recognize this fact, and be able to discern the best way to teach depending on the individuals capacity to learn and to play.

Getting a better deal from Virgin Media

Over the New Year I decided to tackle Virgin Media and get a better deal for the telephone and broadband package that we have. I was paying around £41 a month plus a few extra pounds for calls that weren't covered by the plan, averaging around £46 per month in total.
Checking out the deals for new customers revealed that I should really be paying about £10 less AND be furnished with a new Wi-Fi router.....so... having already been told that the only way I could get the router was to 'upgrade' for another £8 per month, I decided to grit my teeth call them up and push for a better deal.
Sadly, with Virgin, you HAVE to push them to the point of leaving before you get what you want. the first task is to get beyond the first customer representative and get put onto the section that deals with people that are threatening to take their business elsewhere - this is where it pays to have done some research.
The first time I called it was a relatively short call (I hadn't done my research) and I was basically fobbed off with 'there's nothing we can do'. The next time I was prepared with the following: I am paying £41 per month, if I joined as a new customer I would get the same deal (with 'bigger' broadband) AND a free Wi-Fi router for £10 less per month (ignoring short-term deals). If I switched to Tesco broadband, I could get it for £15 less - why am I paying £41 a month?? - this became my much-repeated mantra 'why am I paying so much more than I need to?'.
We went through the same role-play, she telling me I could upgrade for £8 a month and me explaining that £8 a month is even MORE that the £10 a month I am ALREADY paying over the odds.... Eventually I began to break her down, and she started saying, well of course if you leave, you can't re-join for 6 months... well, I can save myself nearly £100 in 6 months by switching to Tesco, so let's see what the disconnections department can do for me shall we? I am put on hold...eventually I speak to a young gent who listens to my tale:
Him - what is it I would like?
Me - I would like the free router please
Him - OK, it will be with you in 3-5 days
Me - OK that's great
Him - is there anything else I can do?
Me - Yes, you can reduce my bill to closer to £30 a month please
Him - after a bit of mumbling about 'applying the discounts' promises a new monthly bill of £32 a month
Sorted - or is it??
11 days pass and no sign of a router... I ring once more and get put through to a young man who is surprised at the offer I was given as he has notes that reflect a very different conversation that I was supposed to have had 11 days previously. His records show that I was offered an £8 upgrade and a £50 installation fee (at no point has anyone mentioned this £50 fee) - and there was no indication of me being sent a router or having a reduction in my bill... I am now pretty shocked to hear this and do my best to convey this without completely losing my rag... I get put through to 'Customer Service' which makes me think 'who was I talking to then if it wasn't customer service??'. Customer Service gets a quick appraisal of exactly how upset I am about the whole scenario - I am at pains to point out that I am really not very happy, which is in complete contrast to how I felt 11 days previously after my supposed triumphant negotiations... To be honest the new guy on the end of the phone doesn't sound anywhere near as shocked as I would hope him to sound and proceeds to go through the process again. I am becoming 'difficult' as I really want him to acknowledge how badly I feel let down - he ploughs on and I realise he is going to try to put things right, so I calm down a bit and we go through my bills step-by-step and eventually after a bit of tweaking 'products' and 'discounts', we eventually come up with a new monthly bill of £33, and a free router. The router duly arrived three days later as agreed, and so far has been fine although I did need to ring technical support to get it up and running as initially it didn't want to connect to the internet.
Martin Lewis of MoneysavingExpert says you have to negotiate tough with Virgin Media and he is right - know what you want, and know what the price would be if you went to a competitor and you should (eventually) get what you want...

update

It's a while since I updated and I am still really busy with the day-job, it's been pretty relentless for just about 2 years now. I am quoting for a regular cassette to digital job at the moment, it could possibly provide a small regular supplementary income - we'll see how that pans out...
I am still looking to reinstate everything since my two PC's packed up over Christmas, we are definitely back and working now, it's just a case of making sure the old software still works on the new operating system and all the backup files are reinstated - I still have yet to start backing up the new stuff yet, but am still waiting to find a suitable housing for 1.5TB of 'spare' hard disks that I now have and plan to use as backup.. I really want a NAS, but they are not cheap, so will have to sell some stuff on eBay first - I have quite a bit of stuff to flog off, but I have been tardy in getting it listed. I am happy enough with the current Windows 7 set-up, but am aware that I should probably think about getting a motherboard that can take more RAM to get the best out of the 64 bit operating system - can't see how I can get it without spending a couple of hundred pounds though, so not going to happen imminently...
The new Virgin router is working well, I am hoping to see the benefit of our newly negotiated monthly charges kicking in next month- have also signed up to a new energy tariff - actually turned out to be lower monthly payments which was a surprise.
So all-in-all everything is looking pretty good at the moment although I am aware that I have not kept my earnings spreadsheet up to date and the end of the tax year is a comfortable distance but will no doubt be looming large soon enough...!

dog training collar

Whether you are just starting to train your dog, or you have a dog that is particularly resistant to being trained, a dog training collar might be the solution.
There are a range of remote control collars available that can be remotely triggered to emit a spray (scented or unscented), emit a vibration or give a light electric shock (for the more stubborn animal).
The collar allows you to control your dog effectively, whilst still allowing them the freedom to be off the leash. I know from experience that dog-training can be a frustrating experience, this is one tool that can help to speed up the process and help you to be more relaxed about your animals' behavior.

Fast Racing for Android

I have just three games on my Android phone now, having just removed the ones I don't play (including 'Angry Birds' would you believe?). Two of them I have already written about on this blog, so that just leaves 'Fast Racing'...

I really enjoyed playing this on my smaller-screen phone, but on the larger screen version (my new phone has a 5.4" screen) it really gets far better. The races get progressively more difficult as you go through, and you build up winnings to spend on  advantages such as starting on the front of the grid or tweaks to your car (or even a whole car upgrade).

The control using screen-tilt to steer the car is fun to use and the whole experience gets quite addictive - I can recommend this as a 'keeper'. If you download it, you will be sure to get hooked within minutes. I reckon the fun probably wears off after about a month or so - a months fun gaming and nothing to pay - give it a go...

School for Massage

There's nothing quite like a good relaxing massage, especially when your bones are getting old and tired. If you were thinking about a career change with a difference, maybe you should consider the new school for massage.

With some careful dedicated study and practice, learning from the experts, you could earn yourself a recognized diploma within about 6 months or so, and begin a new and rewarding therapeutic career.

We got Pumps!

With the amount of rainfall we are currently getting, you may find yourself paying a visit to www.WeGotPumps.com especially if your house has a basement that is a little damper than normal.

All types of commercial and industrial pumps are available from this one-stop-shop website. The key to successful online selling for this type of market, is to have a large range of items in stock at good prices, coupled with a fast and efficient delivery service.

Perfect Piano for Android

Great little app for working out a tune or just amusing yourself in a spare five minutes... This app can be configured for other instruments as well as piano, but the piano is the best and most functional option - it has guitar and drum options, but they are really just add-ons and not as good as the piano/keyboard default option.
A range of 'voices' are available including organ, synth and electric piano - just over an octave is displayed as piano keys on your touch-screen, and a multi-touch device enables chords to be played. You can change the section of the keyboard that you want to play with a full 7 octaves to choose from.
Obviously no a serious musical tool, but nonetheless fun and really well presented, there is even an option to record your 'ditty' which you can also sing along with...!
All in all fun for anyone with an interest in piano or keyboards

Kingsoft Office - Android app

I was looking for free office suite like Open Office for my Android phone and came across Kingsoft Office. I have effortlessly opened MS Excel and Word documents using this app, and on opening , it gives you thumbnails of your recently opened documents which is handy if you are using the same documents frequently.

It also works great with the Cloud Print app, which means you can open, edit and print out your documents on your phone or Android tablet, narrowing once again the gap between the PC, the laptop and the tablet. Already we have seen the laptop begin the take the place of the PC in the home - with apps that can replicate the Windows or Mac environment, you can see tablets trumping laptops in the not-so-distant future.

Kingsoft have done a really great job with their powerful app, they have made it compact so it should work OK on a smaller screen, with menus popping up and sliding across the screen to save space - on a tablet, this is going to work just as well as Open Office and even the outrageously priced Microsoft equivalent...

Windows Live

Having suffered errors with my two home PC's running XP for quite a while now, a couple of fatal errors occurred in Christmas week. A hard-drive crashed on one PC, and I think the other has had a motherboard failure.


I had been looking at buying a copy of Windows 7 and spotted a bargain offer online for Windows 7 professional, an unused 'Dell' OEM copy - I took the plunge and bought it and spent the Christmas Holidays building one working PC from the two broken ones...


I have to say I am pretty happy with the resulting set-up, Windows runs a lot more reliably now although I am limited to 4GB with the motherboard that I have, so will be looking at a complete rebuild at some point.. I often can be found nagging about backups, and fortunately pretty much everything was properly backed up and even more fortunately a lot of the XP 32 bit software seems to run OK on Windows 7 64 bit (which is more than I expected).


One thing is missing though... Outlook express used to come as standard on Windows XP, so I had to sign up to Windows Live to get the same kind of email client, but it also came with 'Sky Drive', Movie Maker and 'Family Safety' which I have signed up for. Sky Drive (I imagine) will be pretty similar to DropBox (which I already have) but comes with 7GB of free space which I am sure will come in handy.. I have installed the app on my phone but have yet to actually upload any files.


I now seem to have rather a lot of spare hard-drives, so am thinking (again) about a NAS (network attached storage) system, but I am waiting for a new Wi-Fi router to be sent to me from Virgin Media, so I think I will wait to see what features it offers first. Right now I have two hard-drives in my cobbled-together working PC (160GB and 300GB) I have four back-up drives 160GB, 250GB, and 2 x 400GB and two drives from the other (non-working) PC, 1TB and 500GB. I really want to make the most of these, but am not exactly sure of the best way to go about it - I am thinking maybe a 4-bay NAS for the 2 x 400, the 1TB and the 500GB drives, then keep the other drives as USB drives attached to the NAS. As I say, I am waiting for a new router to arrive any day now, when it arrives, I will be blogging about how I got it and reduced my broadband and phone payments by £10 a month at the same time.

brass knobs

In the lull between Christmas and new year is a favourite time to be looking around the house for little DIY jobs to be done. This meant I was doing some sanding on the staircase, and was out looking for brass knobs to replace door handles around the house.
New Year is a good time to be thinking about getting the house straight and tidying up all those little jobs you know are lurking around. Added to which the winter storms also bring some major repairs too - we have had some slates replaced on the roof (the insurance company were really helpful), and needed a new element in the oven (only just fixed in time for Christmas...). All in all we have been lucky compared to others who have been flooded, lost power over Christmas or suffered with their central heating etc..

Google Cloud Print

The way we are using computers is changing with the advent of the tablet, and finding ways of using a tablet for previously PC-based tasks will ensure that the PC will soon become a thing of the past.
Right now, we are having a torrid time with the two PC's I have at home, but now we are replete with Android phones, I have being looking at ways to get more use out of the Android devices. Luckily I also have a laptop to fall back on, and the laptop is fulfilling all the PC tasks at the moment as the PC's are really on their last legs.
So, the latest task I have been soring out is printing from the Android device... and happily discovered Google Cloud Print. However you will need a working PC unless you have a wi-fi or cloud-enabled printer to use this service.
How it works:
You register your printer using your Google account on your PC/laptop (Google Chrome settings/ Advanced Settings), then download the cloud print app to your device - run it and select the printer and you should be ready to go... The setup prints out a test page for you and from then on when you select 'print' from a document, picture or website on your phone or tablet, you will be able to print on your home printer (you will need the PC to be logged into your Google Account in order for this to work).
One more arrow through the heart of the PC, one step closer to domination by touch-screen devices!
I am now considering upgrading just one of my two home PC's - replacing the second PC with a tablet - and keeping the laptop for emergencies.

Find My Friends - Android App

As well as providing a phone for my wife this Christmas, we have decided it is probably time for our daughter to have her own phone too - so she will be getting my old Sony Experia with a contract (paid by me...). One of the reasons for getting her a phone is that we can take advantage of this type of Android App so we can work out where she is, and she can work out where we are.
I have been using this app for a while now and found it invaluable for locating family members whilst they are out and about - I have also used it to alert other users that I am nearby - really handy if you planned to meet up with someone.
However the main purpose for me remains to be able to keep track of a child with a mobile device - after Christmas I will get a better idea of how that is going to work, but on the showing so far, this free app is going to be extremely useful...

Second Chinese Android Phone..

The phone that I ordered for my wife for Christmas has arrived fairly promptly - I ordered it using the 'standard' free postage, and it arrived in about 10 days or so which I was happy about as the estimated delivery is 15-30 days... It's dual SIM again, which is particularly useful as it means we can put in the old 'pay as you go' SIM alongside the new contract SIM whilst waiting for the number to migrate from one to the other.

The deal is that I am providing the phone and the contract as a Christmas present so my wife no longer has any phone expenses to pay AND she gets a smart phone into the bargain. However, she really wanted to keep her old number, so we obtained the PAC code for the old PAYG Orange phone number and have given the details to Virgin Mobile, they need about 72 hours or so to do the changeover - so at the moment both SIMs are active (on two separate numbers)which can be a little bit confusing....

The new phone is a DOOGEE DG300 (also called 'Voyager'), and I have to say I actually prefer it to my new phone - it's slightly smaller at 5" - which in my opinion is a bit more manageable - it is just dual core rather than quad core, but still as fast as you need it to be as far as I can tell - Android 4,2 runs nice and smoothly and it is a really neat package all told. I chose this model because of the large battery (2500mAh) and the central button. I like the idea of a solid button for returning the phone to the home-screen - but on mine the two 'soft' buttons ('back' and 'menu') sometimes seem a little unresponsive - on this model however, they seem to work every time - It came with a flip cover which comes joined to a removeable backplate for the phone, so you remove the 'orginal' back cover and clip on the flip cover which I think is a really neat touch... The only issue I have (and it's not a big problem) is that there is no spare battery, but there is a charger and USB cable etc.. as you would expect. No SD card as standard, but I have some spare 8GB cards which I think will be perfectly sufficient. The bottom line then? a phone which seems to (almost)perfectly emulate a Samsung Galaxy S4 for just £66 - you can't really knock that can you? The specs are admittedly lower (camera not quote as good at 5MP - still good enough... onboard memory not as large...) but really still an incredible bargain if you don't want to pay five times as much for the branded version!

restaurant pagers

Here's an idea to make your guests/clients feel that they are being cared for even whilst waiting. The range of restaurant pagers available can be used in a variety of different businesses. In fact any business that through necessity, will have clients waiting to be 'served' can benefit from a system like this. In essence the pager lets you know when your table is ready, but there are other benefits. For one, it gives your client the reassurance that they are not going to be forgotten - in my experience people don't mind a reasonable wait as long as they can feel that they are not being ignored. There is however another benefit to this system in that it can also be used to interact with your client and promote your business whilst they are waiting. Adverts can be played on the system in the form of 'info-mercials'. For instance, whilst diners are waiting to be seated, they could be learning about the function facilities of the restaurant - the meal offers available, the charity event that you are sponsoring... Wherever you may have clients waiting on your premises, this system should be considered as a great tool to make them feel valued.

'Friendly Fire' game on Android

OK, so this is the addictive Android game I mentioned last time I 'talked' about my new Android phone... Naturally it's a free game (otherwise why would I be playing it?) although they do try to get you to pay to upgrade, obviously that didn't work on me, but I suspect others have been cajoled into paying out to get quicker results from the game...

It's a military base-building game with a twist - the twist is that it adapts the actual location of your home as the location for your base - it uses google maps for it's basic layout and then overlays the playing 'board' where the action takes place - so you end up defending your own street which is a very neat twist... Difficult to explain it further without trying it for yourself..
The gameplay is familiar, you build up your defences, and some attacking forces then attack other bases - you can choose to attack people in your own locality, your own country or attack others all over the world. I started this game with a few friends at work and you can attack each others' bases when they are in the same locality which again is another nice twist. I was told it would be addictive, and it lives up to it's billing...
You will be attacked from time to time, but a successful attack means you are immune from further attacks for 12 hours (or until you decide to attack someone else), and although your base is instantly rebuilt, you may lose 'resources' and 'rank' as a result.
As you progress through the levels, you build better defences and better weapons - it's a simple enough concept and much-used, but this has some nice touches which makes it a real addictive pleasure.