A couple of weeks ago, I received a selection of NÖM Naturally yoghurts for review. (For the record, I always like to be sent free stuff – especially if that free stuff is edible!)

Unfortunately, the week they arrived I was still recovering from a nasty cold with an evil sore throat and completely deactivated taste-buds, so in the interests of a fair taste testing this blog post has been delayed somewhat. My apologies.

If you’re anything like me (a completely brand-oblivious person who spends most of their time in the supermarket in a zombie-like state) you’ll be wondering who NÖM are. Apparently, they are an Austrian dairy who have a UK dairy based in Shropshire. They are committed to using natural ingredients in all their products and have recently launched two new product ranges to the UK market: ‘Naturally Creamy’ – a split pot yoghurt similar to Müller’s Corner, and ‘Naturally Good’ – multipack yoghurts in smooth and layered varieties.

The first thing I noticed was how sophisticated the flavours seemed to be. In the ‘Naturally Creamy’ selection I was sent Senga Strawberry, Alphonso Mango & Passionfruit, Morello Cherry, Granola and Granola with Belgian Choc Chip. I assumed I would love the Morello Cherry and I wasn’t disappointed – a lovely rich yet natural cherry topping. The Mango & Passionfruit was equally delicious – both tart and sweet at the same time.

The Granola was surprisingly extremely good – I didn’t expect to like it at all, but it was rather nice (even without the additional Belgian chocolate – that made it even nicer!) – a bit like eating a crumbled up cereal bar with yoghurt. I could happily substitute my morning bowl of cereal with one of these.

My least favourite was the Senga Strawberry. To be fair, I am not a huge fan of strawberry-flavoured food items, I find them a bit too sweet and cloying. This variety wasn’t as sweet as some strawberry yoghurts but still felt a bit like eating a spoonful of jam with my yoghurt to me. I’m sure that this reflects my personal tastes rather than on the quality of the product, though.

I was also sent the two varieties of the ‘Naturally Good’ layered yoghurts: Morello Cherry and Senga Strawberry. These appeared to be the same flavours as the ‘Naturally Creamy’ split pots, only with a slightly thinner yoghurt and the fruit flavour at the bottom. I don’t usually buy layered yoghurts – mainly because the kids actively dislike them and I never saw the point in having all the flavour at the bottom. I usually end up just mixing it all up, by which point I may as well have bought a smooth-style yoghurt!

Ultimately though, these are a high-quality range with an appealing variety of flavours. I would definitely buy from the ‘Naturally Creamy’ range again in preference to their rivals, Müller Corners. Apparently they are available from Morrisons, but hopefully more supermarkets will follow suit soon.

Okay, I’ve been trying not to get swept up in Swine Flu Fever, but quite frankly the level of hysteria has reached ridiculous proportions.

The media, of course, has reacted with big red headlines about the KILLER DISEASE and vastly over-inflating ‘victim’ figures to get the most public interest. People, more people died in road accidents before the news reader finished her intro. Get a grip.

Finally, I found a great article over at Junkfood Science: Flu Fears which is the most sensible overview of the actual science I’ve found so far. It covers most of the salient points and helps put things a little more into perspective. Like the fact that this is “no more serious than your average flu bug”.

To summarise, I can’t do much better than give you yesterday’s xkcd:

Akra laughed when I wrote yesterday that the Twilight DVD was “a little disappointing” as he pointed out that I’d complained through most of it. However, before I get too far into the film’s weaknesses I should first point out what the film did well, in the spirit of fairness.

(Note, for the purposes of this review, I am assuming you have read the book and are wondering whether to bother seeing the film. While I will try and not be too spoilery I can’t guarantee I won’t ruin anything for you if you don’t know the basic plot – if that’s a problem for you, you may want to skip this post).

[Read more →]

I wasn’t sure what to use my Audible credit on this month, so I picked the unabridged version of Twilight, interested to see what all the fuss was about.

It seems to be a rather love/hate sort of book for most reviewers, those who disliked it complain that all the characters seemed to do was endless mooning over each other while for others, the author can do no wrong. However, I rather enjoy a trashy romance from time to time, so I was sure I could cope with that. Plus, it had the added bonus of vampires… got to be at least worth a try.

I was a little put off at the start of the book. While the narrator was excellent, having an “Audible Kids” bumper at the beginning made me wonder if it was going to be just too childish a read and the whole of the introduction had a loud music overlay on the speech which was very irritating. That passed though and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. More than that, I found it a totally gripping and absorbing ‘read’.

I’ve read a lot of romances, a range of the good and the embarrassingly dire. Stephenie Meyer has crafted one of the very best I have ever read – the characters are totally believable and sympathetic. The story is told through the eyes of Bella, the heroine, and through her we slowly uncover the truth behind Edward Cullen and at the same time fall in love with him as she does. It is a little awkward as a 35 year old to admit that you are besotted with a fictional character, I know, but that’s how I felt while reading it.

It’s much more than a mere romance though. It’s strong in the fantasy thriller genre too. When I wasn’t on the edge of my seat as their relationship became closer, I was completely gripped by the action – one of the few books I can genuinely say I found impossible to put down (the kids ended up playing a lot on their Nintendo DSes the last two days). Don’t let the fact that this is marketed as teen fiction put you off, while parts of the romance are very idealised (well, apart from the fact he’s a dangerous predator – that’s not usually an integral part of most romance novels I’ve read) it’s still a very well written thriller in its own right.

On the back of it, I’ve ended up buying the DVD (a little disappointing, will write more on that later), the paperback version and two of its sequels. I’ve also started immediately listening to the whole audiobook again. Good job the kids are back to school tomorrow.

Those of you who are still following the comments on the Mooncup Review I wrote over five years ago (otherwise known as “The post that will not die” … 287 comments and rising even after all this time! Who’d a thunk it), will know that I recently purchased two mooncup pouches from Lovealittle on Etsy.com. I promised to write a little review of them once received – and this is it.

If you’re currently looking blankly and wondering what a mooncup is, then I suggest you read the original post (although I should warn you, if you’re uncomfortable talking or reading about menstruation products, you may prefer not to).

On the surface, a specially designed pouch for the mooncup seems a great idea. The little drawstring bags that come with them get tatty rather quickly and never seem to really protect them from collecting all the fluff you normally find in most chaotic bedside drawers (or is that just mine?). Also, to have a pretty patterned little bag rather than a plain cream one with the mooncup logo plastered across it at least allows you to retain a small sense of feminine mystique en route to the loo.

But do they live up to expectation? The short answer is yes.

Delivery was prompt after purchase and packaged well with a promotional bookmark and a personal post-it to say thank you, which was a nice touch.

This attention to detail in presentation was carried into the actual product – they’re beautifully made, sturdily put together but at the same time feeling delicate and pretty. They’re sort of a pyramid-shape cotton pouch with a zip along one edge. This opens smoothly to reveal a red cotton lining interior which (as you would expect) a mooncup fits in perfectly. In fact, you could probably fit two mooncups in one pouch if you slid one inside the other before putting it in the pouch, but I prefer to give them a little more freedom in a pouch of their own.

There are several designs to choose from; my favourite of the two I chose is the ladybird design – the little glass ladybird bead at the end of the zip is really sweet. I was also pleased to see that they can be hand-washed or put into a gentle machine wash.

The price? A very reasonable $10 US with $2 US shipping for UK orders and $4 US shipping to anywhere else. Every mooncup owner should have at least one.

You can purchase your own from the Lovealittle shop at Etsy.com. Alternatively, Jane at Lovealittle has kindly offered to donate one of these lovely little pouches in a Prattle giveaway!

All you have to do is come up with the most unusual use for a mooncup pouch (other than keeping your mooncup in, of course) and leave it in the comments for this post.

The one that makes Jane laugh the loudest gets the prize!

Entries should be submitted by the 30th September.

Good luck!

I shall probably have a bigger and more in-depth rant about regionalization and DRM in the near future, but in the meantime I would like to point you towards this article: No More Regionalization.

There really is no excuse, in these days of increased globalization, to treat your non-US customers with such disdain. And it’s not just a problem with a single MMORPG. With the dollar weak, European customers are actually worth a lot more money and generate more profit per person. Yet we are often treated as second-class citizens at best – charged more coin for less functionality and content.

It is getting worse, and it will continue to get worse as long as we allow these companies to get away with it. I think it’s time to start making some noise.

I have recently been on a computing course at Akra Jr’s school – its purpose is to help parents get up to speed with what their children are doing in class, but my goal was to find out why Akra Jr was loving using computers at home, but saying he didn’t enjoy ICT classes.

It’s been great – the teaching is fantastic, they’ve invested a lot in computer hardware and software and getting to “learn” with Akra Jr sitting beside me and showing me what he can do has been absolutely fantastic. Well worth sitting through a whole heap of tutorials on things I already knew how to do and had been using for years.

It’s given me a better idea of what sort of tasks they need to be able to do, giving me the impetus to search out the mac equivalents which can complement any schoolwork at home. It’s also given me some new language – a sort of kiddy tech talk – although mostly relevant for Windows than mac: “kiss the window goodbye” to remind children to use the X to close the window, “dog in the box” to remember which icon is for text wrapping round images.

However, one thing I am finding really frustrating is the inappropriate use of Microsoft Word for desktop publishing tasks. Now, I can see why they are doing this:

• the curriculum probably insists they learn a well-known word processor, but for young children learning needs to be fun. When you’re 7 years old, fun is pictures and very little text – this implies posters, fact sheets, newsletters etc.
• in terms of licensing for school use, using Word for as many different tasks as possible will be cheaper for them than buying a separate DTP package license.
• kids are likely to have some incarnation of Microsoft Word at home so it will be familiar, but are much less likely to have a DTP program at home.

So logical, yes. Easy to learn? God, no.

Using Microsoft Word 2008 to manipulate text boxes and pictures reminded me why I love my iMac so very very much. Getting a picture and text box to stay where you wanted it required more voodoo than mouse skills. To add insult to injury, every now and then when you added a text box (seemingly if you had the cursor in the wrong place but no rhyme or reason as to why) then it would wipe out everything else you had on the screen. I was getting frustrated… Akra Jr just looked a bit bewildered and gave up trying.

It reminded me very much of my experiences of Lotus SmartSuite in my days of working in the insurance industry where colleagues would beg me to fix complicated layouts and I would be able to after a few minutes of faffing – but wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly how I did it, or repeat it in exactly the same way the next time it was needed. Voodoo and confidence were more successful than logic.

Anyway, I’ve bought Swift Publisher for similar tasks at home which is so much easier for a child (and me!) to use, so hopefully we can build some confidence and experience at home with a tool that’s actually designed for the job. We’ll save the Word Processor for when he’s actually got some words to process.

This was the question asked on the Today programme this morning. I didn’t hear the actual piece as we’d woken late and were running behind, but the word “Blogger” was said in a manner that rhymed with “Scum”, so I can guess the conclusion.

The question in detail was would you trust a blogger’s opinion of a book over that of a professional critic? The stress on the word professional rubbed home the fact that us mere internet graffiti artists have no proper training to be able to properly comment on whether we’d recommend anything to our friends or not.

Personally (although, obviously, I’m highly biased – reviews form a substantial part of the Prattle) yes I do trust the average Joe on the ‘net over a professional reviewer. No they aren’t as professional in writing out their review, but they do know whether they like something and I know they’re not getting paid to deceive me. I even trust the comments on Amazon far more than any newspaper review.

Of course, I do check that the reason for a good or bad review is well thought out and that we share similar views of what makes a good or bad product.

No matter how much someone raved over a horror novel, I would still not buy it – I’m a wuss and can’t sleep at night after reading even the mildest story in the horror genre. Nor would I trust someone who said something sucked without offering any explanation why. I also try and look for a consensus over a great many opinions rather than relying on one, particularly if it’s a blog I haven’t read over a long period of time. This is common sense. But these days I hardly buy anything without doing a thorough internet search first and the reviews that have most weight with me…?

… they’re the reviews on personal blogs.

As promised, I’m going to do a quick review of the Apollo goLITE M2 – the light therapy box I chose to treat my SAD symptoms.

When I was looking for a light box, I found it really confusing – there are so many different claims out there, different types and brightnesses. You do feel a little lost among all the marketing! This was the one I finally selected for varying reasons and it’s turned out to be bang on right for me – however, the caveat to that is it may not be right for you, so I do highly recommend researching thoroughly especially as all of them are so expensive.

So what is the Apollo goLITE M2? It’s a very small unit: only 13.5cm high, 14.5cm wide and 2.5 cm thick (measurements approximate at largest points). The cover folds back on a hinge and becomes a stand at just the right angle for the light to bathe your face when switched on and placed on a desk. Instead of a bright bulb, it has 66 LED lamps which all emit in the blue spectrum only – this is the area of the spectrum that the latest research has identified as most beneficial to SAD sufferers. Like all good light lamps, it emits no UV radiation.

The buttons are simple – but to be fair, what else do you need? Power, light… you can set a timer (so it’ll switch off when your “dose” is done), adjust the brightness and set an alarm as a reminder. It’s completely portable – you can charge it up then place it somewhere convenient where there may not be any power socket available.

It costs just under £200.

PROS

• Despite its size, it is a very powerful little light – I was really nervous when I first got it in my hands. It looked so tiny and flimsy, how the hell was it going to compete with the bigger units I’d seen? All my worries dissolved when I switched it on. It is very bright and very effective.
• Short treatment time. As a result of its brightness, the treatment time is short and you can very quickly then just get on with your day. It’s advertised as 15-30 minute treatment with the average being around 20 minutes for most people. I find I do need a full 30 minutes, but then I only have it on 75% strength, so maybe I could reduce the time if I just had it on full… am happy with the routine I have now, though!
• Excellent battery life. I forget what the battery life is officially, but I’m easily getting a week’s worth of treatment on just a one 8 hour charge. You can also do a “quick” charge for a couple of hours, but to be honest I remember to charge it on the Friday as routine far more easily than doing lots of little charges as and when it needs it.
• Energy efficient. As it only emits in the blue spectrum (rather than the full visual spectrum), it uses much less power than a conventional light box.
• No bulbs to replace. You’re supposed to change the bulbs in a traditional light box every year, as they slowly lose their efficiency over time. While they may still appear bright, the amount they emit is vastly reduced (those of us who keep fish will know of the equivalent problem with hood lights!). However, this isn’t necessary with LEDs apparently.

Cons

• The lid/stand feels cheap and flimsy. For my biggest complaint, I suppose it’s not a bad one to have, but even so – it doesn’t feel that robust and considering its cost, I would really like to have seen a more quality finish to the product (not to the expense of the actual therapeutic qualities though, of course).
• The size can also be a disadvantage. The first few times of use I sat there rigid, terrified that by twisting my head slightly, my eyes would fall out of range of the light. It proved unfounded and I did relax eventually, but I’m sure with the bigger light boxes there’s much less awareness of that “field” of light that you must keep in.
• It’s expensive. Not really a disadvantage when you compare it to other similar light products – prices vary, but in comparison to other short dose light boxes (i.e. ones that are powerful enough to only have around half an hour of treatment time) it’s competitive. It’s just that it feels over priced compared to how small and plasticky it is. I do wonder whether we’re paying more to cover the cost of the research rather than the components, or if they just priced it to be in the ballpark of their main competitors.
• Charging is a bit of guess work. Would it really have cost them much more to have a “fully charged” indicator or beep? The battery gauge is next to useless as well – showing fully charged for ages, then suddenly running out of power. Frustrating where so many other gadgets in our lives seem to have much more effective solutions.

Over all though, I am very happy with it and feel like it was money well spent.

Mollie has reminded me that I have forgotten to give you all an update on how my light therapy has been going. My apologies for that, Mollie and others who wondered when I was going to get around to it. There’s rather a lot to put into one post, so what I am going to do is talk a little about light therapy in general today, then review the light box I bought specifically in a later blog post.

For those who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, light therapy is one of the most recommended treatments for a condition called SAD (or Seasonal Affective Disorder). SAD is a form of winter depression – symptoms in the darker months of the year include: oversleeping and difficulty staying awake, continual fatigue and disinterest in activities, cravings for carbohydrates and sugary foods, along with other common symptoms of depression.

The reason why people get SAD (which does appear to have a strong genetic component) is thought to be linked to nerve cells in our eyes that react to the blue portion of daylight in order to keep our body clock on track. As the days get darker in the winter, this process just isn’t as efficient for some people, hence triggering a “hibernation” effect with the symptoms listed above.

What light therapy tries to do is provide enough light at the correct time of day to “reset” that body clock. It has proven to be highly effective for most suffers of SAD and is often the first choice of treatment before antidepressants and counselling, although the latter two also have proven benefits for this condition.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Seasonal Depression, you can find out more information from the SADA website.

So that’s the theory. What did I find out in practise?

Well the first thing I discovered, is that (contrary to what you would expect… it’s only “light” after all) light therapy does have side effects.

For the first few days of treatment, I really did feel quite giddy and sick. On investigation, this is quite a common side effect and I think next year I will be much more careful to slowly work up to a full “dose” over several days rather than on day one – give my brain a chance to catch up a bit. I’ve also read that (for similar reasons) it’s important to slowly trail off exposure to the light over several weeks at the end of the SAD season.

The other thing that is tricky to get right is the dosage and timing.

I have a fairly high powered light box, which means my recommended exposure time varies between 15 minutes and half an hour (I can also vary the light strength). This was a bit of a balancing act as I found that using it too early in the morning meant I woke too early the next morning, but leaving it too late meant I really struggled to get out of bed in time the next day. Also, too short a dose meant I had an energy slump in the middle of the day and needed a top up.

It was a case of trial and error in the early days to get the right balance. I’ve ended up with a routine of using it an hour after I wake up, for half an hour on a three quarter dose – but each person will have different requirements, I’m sure.

I also found that if one day I had a lie in and hence had a later dose of light therapy than normal it completely messed my body clock up – so those days I would skip the light therapy completely, rather than reset my body clock to a different time. You do have to be careful though, as miss too many doses and the therapy is no longer as effective.

All that said, the light therapy has been fantastic, and I really don’t begrudge spending the money at all. I’m finding it so much easier to get up and have energy and interest in my day again. I’m a nicer person with my children (and you really don’t realise quite how depressed you were until that depression lifts and you start to feel so much better).

I did have a bit of a slump earlier in January when we had a week of constant rain – in retrospect, I should have upped the light strength just for that week as soon as I noticed my mood declining.

I will be using the light box again next year.

So there you go, I hope that was helpful. I will review the light box I bought shortly in another post.