Latest Inventions

posted by admin on May 12

This new company has recently caught my attention while reading some of my favourite magazines, and they offer something special for all those female travellers out there who want to travel with style.

Why settle for everything ‘practical’ being brown or grey when travelling? Why not have feminine and stylish products and accessories, that are both practical and environmentally friendly?

New Concept:
That’s what the founder of Girls Travel Club, Becci Coombes-Burr thought after her extensive travels, and so created a company that focused on just that concept.

She searched high and low for travel-related products that were not only eco-friendly and (nasty and unnecessary) chemical-free, but were perfect for travelling light and of beautiful design. Where she couldn’t find the right product - she had her own made - starting their own-brand range of products.

The Website:
The website itself is very well presented, with plenty of well written and very detailed categories to browse through from Packing Advice to Eco-Friendly short breaks, through Travel Skills Courses to Travel Safety. It also has current related news scrolling up the right-hand side.

The main reason for the site though is the sales section, where they have chosen categories covering everything travel: First Aid, Toiletries, Sun Protection, Gadgets, Clothes, Eating & Drinking, as well as Games and Stationary Products. None of these are too big, so scrolling through them is nice and easy.

You are first taken to a pictured ‘list’ with basic descriptions and prices, and clicking on the product picture brings up a more detailed profile of each item with all the relevant facts. It uses a simple shopping cart for saving your items - and the many testimonials shown show how effective their ordering and delivery services are.

There’s More:
They don’t stop there though - they also guide you to information on how they are helping schools in Guatemala, how to cancel out the environmental costs of your delivery, and many other links.

They also host a blog on destinations, advice and other tips that they invite you to contribute to as well as a category on Travel Remedies, where they detail all sorts of products that they have found invaluable while travelling to cure all sorts of aches and pains, allergies and irritations, knocks, bumps and bruises! It even includes tips to get over your fear of flying!

Go visit the site for yourself for inspiration and shopping!! - www.girlstravelclub.co.uk

.

posted by admin on May 11

It seem that everywhere you look, someone is claiming to have a ‘new’ dieting aid - with The Pink Patch being the latest in a long line.

With heavy and risky advertising on MSN’s home page and FaceBook, this company are making outrageous claims about the effects of their product - ‘Get Skinny’ and ‘Lose 2 stone in a Month’ are among the most noticeable.

What is it?
Basically it is a combination of ingredients with well known actions - like appetite suppression and the ability to break down fats - combined into a slow release ‘patch’ - similar to a Nicorette patch.

As we know that these ingredients are used in many other diet aids, it’s not to difficult to see that they could be of use in weight loss. But what makes the Pink Patch so different?

Well, it’s claiming that it’s easier for us ladies because we don’t have to ‘worry’ about when to take pills, or forcing ourselves to eat a salad instead of a bar of chocolate because this natural remedy takes care of all that for us and we can just carry on enjoying our lives.

As expected, there are a few clangers way down the bottom of their sales page which make you realise just how similar it actually is to any other diet plan:

Expect to lose between 1-1.5lbs a week
Use with a sensible diet
Use with regular exercise
Don’t drink alcohol - except for the odd glass of red wine (if you have to)
Only have one glass of coffee a day
Drink plenty of water

Does it work?
I firmly believe that if you really want to lose weight, you would do all these things anyway, and without having to buy these patches (or any pills for that matter). The appetite suppressant may seem like the answer for many women out there - but you will get this effect naturally if you eat little and often and consume your correct balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.  So I suppose, the patch should work if you do everything they recommend - as it’s just common sense dieting advice.

It claims it has no side-effects, but then on the same page claim that it affects your hormones and can relieve PMS. Well if it can affect PMS - what else could it affect?

Wanna Try It? 
If you still think it’s worth a try, then go visit their web page - the free trial is only about 2 weeks worth of patches, costing you the £4.95 postage and packing. If you want the jumbo money-saving pack of 4 months worth of tablets (£77.96) it gets you free postage!

But then, if they claim you can lose 5lb in 1 week - how many people out there need to lose 80lbs in the first place??????

Long Term Weight Loss: 
If, however you are serious about losing weight permanently and without short-term gimmicks, try searching for ‘The 6 Meals A Day’ diet in Google - there are some great motivational blogs out there.

In just a few days you will have your appetite under control and start to enjoy eating smaller meals with more protein in them, like chicken breast with steamed broccoli florets and asparagus stems, sirloin steak with yam and sweet potato mash, lobster on a bed of zucchini and green beans, the list goes on…………….

And, Good Luck.

PS - if you are going to cheat on a diet - do it in style. Rather than shove down a bar of chocolate or an entire pack of biscuits when no one can see you - get home and whip yourself up a lovely chicken stir fry with chunky vegetables! It’s better for you and why should you hide from anyone? It’s your body and your diet.

You want to feel you are cheating the diet - and we all need to do that occasionally - but don’t cheat yourself

posted by admin on May 9

This new list was recently compiled by over 100 million Internet votes as the world wondered whether we should compile our own, modern version of the Great Wonders Of The Ancient World, of which only the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt is still in existence.

The public loved the idea and voted for themselves and below is the new list, containing a spread of architectural wonders of today. Of course these places have necessarily been made in modern times and only 2 have been created in the past 500 years, some as old as 500BC! Nothing modern there!!!

However, these places are wonders of the world we live in that people of today are still amazed at after all this time; special places that people will travel across the whole world to see just once.

Chitchen Itza - Quintana Roo State - Mexico
This quite large Toltec/Mayan site is famous for it’s square-based pyramid temple in the centre - el Castillo. It represents the calender in Mayan times and has steep steps on each facing. It has a smaller pyramid inside as well that you can climb if you aren’t claustrophobic and don’t mind getting really, really, hot! Famously, the outer steps of this temple show a moving snake during the equinoxes.

This site also many other structures, carvings and columns, as well as the largest known ball court - the sport of the ‘day’ - where the winners were apparently decapitated!

Christ The Redeemer Statue - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Watching over Rio de Janeiro is a giant statue of Christ (Cristo Redentor) which can be seen from everywhere in the city, and at night He appears to float in the darkness.

A relatively modern structure, Christ the Redeemer is nearly 40 metres tall and weighs around 700 tonnes and is seemingly impossibly perched on top of a 710 metre high mountain peak.

Machu Picchu - Near Cuzco - Peru
This amazing city, perched on top of a 2430m high mountain peak in the Andes has fascinated millions. Even before it was discovered in 1911, people were looking out for the mysterious ‘Lost City of the Incas’ and after it’s recent clearance (and modern transport links) around 1000 people a day will visit in high season, most coming the traditional (and the best) way - along the 4 day Inca Trail.

Petra - Arabah - Jordan
Another world awaits you at Petra - literally ‘rock’ in ancient Greek. Here you will find a whole city carved into the solid rock of a natural gorge in the middle of a desert waste-land.

Giant carved building fronts cover each side of the rock faces, including columns and other roman features, intricately marking buildings with important events of the time, rising 100’s of feet into the air above you in the red rock.

The Taj Mahal - Agra - India
Built as a mausoleum by Mughal Emporer Shah Jalnan for his lost wife, work on this amazing complex of structures was completed around 1648. It is considered the finest example of mughal architecture in the world today, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

This white marble structure combines Persian, Turkish, Indian and Islamic style, and the famous view from the Charbagh (the Garden of Paradise) is something everyone wants in their own photographic collection, and it has an average of 2-4 million visitors every year to prove it!! Apparently though, only 5 things are allowed to be taken into the temple with visitors, everything else must remain outside…….

The Colosseum - Rome - Italy
This iconic symbol of Imperial Rome is a joy to explore! With 2 underground levels, secret tunnels and an 83 metre long arena - not to mention the beauty of the outside details, the sculptures and the history.

Built between 70 and 80AD it was the largest amphitheatre ever built by the Romans, holding an estimated 50,000 spectators watching gladiator contests, executions, animal fights and peaceful dramas. Apparently gravediggers were banned from entry, but slaves were more than welcome!

The Great Wall Of China - many locations across China
For nearly 1500 years, various emperors of China have been building or extending their own part of the wall - or as currently - simply renovating it. Covering an estimated 4000 miles of the countries northern and western border with Inner Mongolia, this wall is not visible from the moon, as was once claimed (it’s too thin apparently, and the same colour as the surrounding mountains).

The most visited areas are just north of Beijing where extensive works have maintained huge sections for tourism. Up to 1 million men were employed to guard this wall against invaders at it’s peak, but it is estimated that around triple that number died in it’s making.

How many have you been to see???

posted by admin on May 7

We’ve all been there - accidentally deleting one of our favourite photos from the digital camera.

It’s still there in the memory, but you won’t ever see it again. Will you?

Maybe You Will: 
Because, I’ve come across a group of software packages in the making that will not only allow you to retrieve that image from your xD card, but also your camcorder and many flash memory storage devices, including MP3 players and even your Sony PSP.

The company is called Media Innovations Group LTD, who have been retrieving images from digital still cameras for over a decade. They have been selling and supporting their ‘Don’t Panic ImageRecall Software’ for 6 of those years and are now expanding to cover new technology.

What Do They Do? 
Basically they offer advice, support, repair and recovery for everyone - you don’t have to be a big company - you can be just you with some important images to retrieve. They work with CompactFlash, MultiMedia, Secure Digital, xD Picture Cards, Smart Media, Microdrive and Memory Stick.

They sell their standard package for £25 (prices vary throughout Europe, New Zealand and the US) which comes with user manual with screen shots and a demo video to get you started, and if your PC allows you can then burn the images onto CD. The software runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista, as well as their newly advertised MAC version for OS 10.3 and above).

Because they offer ongoing support rather than selling a stand alone product, if you cannot retrieve the data yourself or the hardware is too corrupt for their software to be effective, you can send it off to their labs where they will try to retrieve anything using advanced tools. There is no charge if they cannot locate anything.

Their site (www.imagerecall.com) also has some simple ‘Prevention Tips’ for you to help limit the chances of you losing data in the first place.

It’s well worth a visit just for that - I found it very handy during my month long trip around Costa Rica where I filled my 4mb worth of camera memory several times over!

I didn’t want to lose even one of those pictures……..

posted by admin on May 5

Not as many people as I thought have any idea that you can insure your pet dog, cat or rabbit - as well as almost anything else we have as pets, including horses, lizards, parrots and gerbils!

I recently overheard a conversation where a girl relayed that after her dog got run over outside her house, the vet asked her if she had insurance and she had all but laughed in their face - it was only when the bills started coming in (totalling more than $700 and still rising) that she stopped laughing.

Is it Worth It?
Many others who have heard of it think it is a gimmick or a waste of money - ‘why pay someone else a set amount every month when I can just put some aside myself?’ Well, in the UK if your dog causes a road traffic accident, the owner is liable for up to $2m for each human injured as a result, not including costs for the damaged car or cars involved. Think you have enough savings for that???

All insurance policies create the same reaction - ‘do I really need it?’ - ‘nothing went wrong with our last pet/holiday/car…’. Can you afford that risk? Policies for cats and dogs range from around $9 up to $60 depending on a whole range of factors - but beware - they don’t all cover the same things!

Search For the Best Deal for You. 
So because all policies are different, don’t just grab the first one you see, or the cheapest for that matter - read up on the following details and see which areas are worth more to you, then focus on the best policy for your pets AND your pocket. What factors are relevant to you?

Existing Illness or Injury - If you pet has an existing injury or known illness that has recieved or is currently receiving treatment for, this may not be covered on all new policies.
New illness or injury - Check if the policy premiums go up after each new claim.
New Policy Time Window - Find out if your pet is covered immediately for cover, or if it has to wait for a period of time before cover begins (to make sure you don’t take out the policy when your pet is already ill).
Multiple Pets - Do you need to insure more than 1 pet in your household, as some policies will offer a decent % saving.
Excess Amount - Check that the amount of each claim you have to pay is not too high, otherwise you will never owe your vet enough money to bother making a claim - check your vets costs for the common illness and treatments, like loose stools - cut to the foot - ear infection, and compare the excess amount.
Payment Type - Some policies will pay everything through your vet with you just paying the excess amount to begin. Other policies make you pay for all of the treatment first - then send you a check after.
Other Benefits - Many policies will offer discounts for pets that are micro-chipped or spayed/neutered - also with indoor cats and other restricted animals. However, some policies will charge more for certain breeds of dog, for example, where those breeds are susceptible to hereditary conditions - so if your pet is (for example a bulldog is prone to skin complaints, a German shepherd to digestive upsets, a Labrador to elbow dysplasia, etc) check policies out for this specific detail. Some companies also offer discounts for people who work in certain professions which is worth looking in to.
Third Party - if your dog is likely to come into contact with people, vehicles or other animals, it may be worth getting (or at least investigating) third party cover incase of an incident. Sometimes this is included on you household policy so make sure you don’t pay twice.

Other things to look out for in a policy include the following:

• Alternative Medicines and Holistic Treatments Cover
• Accidental Death of Your Pet (specifically for pure-breed dogs and cats)
• Advertising and Rewards for Lost Pets
• Cattery or Kennel Fees (if you are hospitalised)
• Special Diets (in the case of long term medical conditions; diabetes, kidney failure, etc)
• Pet Holiday Protection (at home and abroad)

It really is worth having with vet bills on the increase. Even if you only make one or two claims ever - it would still have been worth it. Imagine you were that girl at the start who had to make a choice to treat her dog for as long as it took as whatever the cost, or to have her pet euthanized or a leg amputated to save money.

Is that decision really worth the price of a meal out?