• Tweet
• 1

Yup its the end of the Summer but wait that doesn’t mean the end of alfresco cooked meals does it?

I say no, I’m Scottish and willing to freeze my nipples in the pursuit of chargrilled bbq perfection.

To help me attain these perfect Autumn and Winter barbecues I recently purchased the stainless steel pedestal bbq from Lidls for £34.99.

It boasts an adjustable chrome plated steel grill which can be moved very easily to three different cooking heights! The heat resistant bakelite side handles make this supremely easy and safe ta boot.

Cleverly the designer(s) have utilised the pedestal and integrated an optimal heat suction effect chimney.

There is also a removable ash collection tray which is quite small but functional as the majority of ash etc can be scooped from the top.

The wind deflector does its job and the cooking area at around: 46cm x 47cm is more than adequate. I had two full racks of big ribs, a large pack of chicken, some burgers and think I had corn on all at the same time! Kick ass! Also the heat distribution is very good with even the edges getting a good cooking heat (if you have used enough charcoal and spread it out right).

The full dimensions are approx. (cm): 92 x 65 x 48
Apparently it also comes with 3 year manufacturer’s warranty which is pretty confident of them!

I’ve cooked on a few barbies and this is by far and away the best I’ve cooked on! It can be used to cook for 2 or for 22 people no worries.

A total bargain for 35 squidlets. Crivvens this is a good BBQ and I’m gunna cook on it in the snaw! Yeeeehaaa.

• Bluehost vs Justhost vs Fasthosts Review – Whos the top web host?
• PS3 Slim Review – Is skinny better?
• Noahs Classifieds Review – DO NOT BUY IT
• Blackberry Bold 9700 Review
• Simple:Press Forum Review – Is it the best forum for WP?

However she does like her wine so I thought perhaps a gift relating to this. A decanter perhaps? Mmmmm probably wouldnt get used and the ones I saw were a bit out of my price range! What a bout a nice glass and I can engrave it with something witty? Yes that was it, so I set about finding a nice crystal wine glass from a place that could engrave it for me too.

I think it was via a Google Ad I found I quickly navigated to the wine glasses section (the website doesnt look the best but its pretty easy to get around) where I discovered this glass: http://www.warwickcrystal.co.uk/shop/glasses/glass125.htm

Extra large eh, well that sounds about right, you could cram more than half a bottle in it!!

I added it to the cart and started the checkout process where I had to add the engraving text. Ahh time for something witty…….erm…..erm……erm. Ahhh I know you cant go wrong with a good quote! How about “Wine is bottled poetry” said by Robert Louis Stevenson. Now the thing about the website here is you can choose what font you want for the engraving, unfortunately you cant choose a different font per line (I wanted the quote in script and Bobs name just in normal font). However upon emailing them regarding this they told me just to add any instructions in the provided text area for them.

All good although I did have a slight issue in the checkout process where because of the route I took it brought me back to where I put my details in and it had wiped them all. No biggy though.

I paid for next day special delivery too because again as usual Id left everything to the last minute. Sorted….I thought.

The next day I received an email from Warwick Crystal saying that glass was out of stock and they wouldnt be getting more in until later that day meaning they would miss the post and so not manage the next day service. AAAAhhhhhhhhrgh, I hate shops that allow you to checkout goods which are out of stock (especially when you pick next day delivery)! They did kindly offer to use another (more expensive: http://www.warwickcrystal.co.uk/shop/glasses/glass105.htm) glass which I did look at but wasnt sure about the shape plus I was seduced by the over half a bottle of wine glass. Anyway I was desperate and said just go for the replacement glass as I need the glass tomorrow!

Give them their due the glass arrived the very next day, well wrapped and with complimentary choccys too! And the glass is sooo much nicer in your hand than in the photos. The engraving was just what I specified and exactly as I imagined it, very good indeed! There was a slight flaw in the glass but to be honest not that noticable really.

Overall I was really happy with the communication, customer service, delivery and the end product. I think the website could be improved looks-wise but hey its functional and Im being picky.

I would recommend Warwick Crystal and I will be using them again for the next birthday in the family.

No related posts.

Normally Id reply by email with some prices off the top of my head, but most times by the time I got back to them they had already advertised elsewhere that day and they’d keep me in mind for the future. I could see a potential market here but the process wasnt working for me or my potential advertising customers! Everything done by email then Id have to manually add their banner etc! Mmmmm nae chance, my time is valuable and its just not worth it.

There must be a better way, I thought. After a quick search I found exactly what I was looking for: OIO Publisher

OIO offers everything I needed to completely manage and automate how visitors advertise on my sites. In fact it offers even more!

Here is a quick run down of OIO’s features:

• Fully automated sales – once setup the advertisers do the rest!
• Run 3rd party ad networks alongside your own ads – Google, Commision Junction etc
• Install as a WP plugin or a standalone application
• Sell banner ads, text ads and even paid reviews/posts
• Display ads using PHP or Javascript code
• Show default ads until the slots are purchased – no blank ad spaces
• Convert visitors into sales staff with OIO’s inbuilt affiliate program
• Create custom purchases allowing you to sell digital products i.e. graphics, themes, sounds, video etc
• Multiple payment gateways supported – including Amazon, Google, Paypal and Alertpay
• Create unlimited “zones” or areas on your website where different ad sizes can be displayed
• Setup your ads to be purchase per day, per click or per impression
• Click and impression tracking, plus weekly ad reports emailed to advertisers
• OIO even have their own marketplace similar to Buysellads

Well as you can see that is a wealth of functionality and I’ve probably missed some!

I think one of the key features of this is that its not just A WP plugin, its a standalone program where just one install could run and manage the advertising on multiple websites. So install OIO once and have it manage and display ads on any number of websites! That really is a useful function if you dont want or need to have a single install managing a single website.

The other stand out feature of OIO is being able to place multiple ad sizes/types anywhere on your website (just setup a zone in OIO admin and add either the PHP or JS code in your website code to display the ads in that zone) and keep displaying your third party affiliate ads and Google ads.

If you want to trully monetise your website then OIO is a tool you just cant live without.

So how much would you expect to pay for this? £100? £300? WRONG its just $47!! You could make your money back easily in a day if you have a popular enough website!

Thats not all! Use the discount code below and get $10 off that purchase! It is truly amazing value for money!

Get OIO Publisher here!

October Coupon Code: MIST-THEPATH

No related posts.

After 3 days of speaking to the frankly useless Orange Tech Help, various speed tests and my own fiddlings I finally stumbled upon a solution.

So lets cut to the chase because if you were as frustrated as me then you are on the verge of telling Orange to stuff it and have a big tantrum.

The fix:

Log into your router (If you installed the Netgear CD then there should be a link on your desktop which will open a path similar to: C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\Router_Setup.html). You will now be on the router’s summary page (see the first picture below). AT the bottom right there is a link that says “Router Login”…..click it!

Now unless you changed it the standard login info is: User: admin – Pass: password

On the left hand side menu click “Wireless Settings”. Under the heading “Wireless Network” you will see a “Mode” option, this is probably set to 150Mbps, change it to “g & b” (see the second picture below).

So thats: router admin->Wireless Settings->Wireless Network->Mode->g & b

Hey presto you have uploading power once again (mwahahahahaha). Now please note I was supplied a Netgear Wireless-N 150 ADSL2+ Modem Router – model DGN1000, so if you have a different router the path to the settings may be different but hopefully the result will be the same.

Now for a small rant at the Orange Tech Help: Why is all you can do to help is do a speed test, or ask me to do a speed test. I had already said the speed test I did earlier was fine! This obviously pointed to the router or a firewall problem or something else……but no no “We will do a speed test”. Rubbish! Waste of 5p a bloody minute, the guys have all the tech knowledge of an Orangutan’s nipple.

Well atleast Im enjoying very good speeds for my area, although downloads speeds are capped at peak times

I searched and searched google for a solution and didnt find it so I hope this helps you out.

No related posts.

Sellers post gigs ads also know as micro jobs. On A Few Bob these range from £5 – £100 (sites like fiverr have one price of $5 which limits the kinds of jobs offered). The jobs themselves can be anything from logo design to grass cutting. Silly gig ads can also be quite popular like sending postcards from where you stay or singing happy birthday over the phone!

Once the jobs are live people can purchase them, contact is made between the buyer and seller. Job gets done and the sellers balance is credited with the sale (minus the A Few Bob’s commission at 10%). Once the seller reaches £30 they are paid via Paypal. Easy huh.

A Few Bob’s commission is only 10% compared to fiverr’s 20%! So a good deal and a new cool UK marketplace.

• Fiverr Script Clone Review

Buyers of course can pick up some good deals as Fiverr is limited to ads at $5. This means sellers can only advertise at this rate so getting your grass cut for that price would be a pretty goo deal (especially if you have a large lawn). Other sites offer sellers the chance to sell services for larger amounts too.

Anyway I liked the idea of this marketplace so much that I decided I wanted my own site doing exactly the same thing. The search for a decent clone script began. There is no shortage of options out there. I think I found around5-6 which looked OK. However some just didnt look right, others were way to pricey.

I finally clocked one over at PHP Valley (thankyou google ads) and it looks fantastic (pretty similar to Fiverr as you would expect being a clone script), had all the features and it was a very reasonable price. So I bought it as soon as I found it, downloaded it and got to work.

The script is lightweight but has the features you need. It was very easy to install and setup. I suddenly realised that everything was in $’s and I wanted £’s!! I emailed the creator and asked how much it would be to change it from $ to £. Nothing was the reply and he emailed me the fix within 30mins! Excellent service I think you will agree.

There are some cool features with the software like the fancy ajax popup login box and the fact that sellers can advertise services from $5 or £5 up to 100 (every multiple of 5 is available). The whole site is easy to operate from a users perspective, accounts are easily created, then users can start posting/editing/deleting “gigs” as they see fit.

The software is being actively updated and once purchased, updates are available for free.

You really cant go wrong with this script, its a low cost, the support Ive had was great and it looks/works great out of the box!

I would like to see some changes and updates though (which the owner is more than willing to hear):

1. A proper dropdown menu bar in the admin screen. I find the second level menu annoying.
2. An MVC framework used for the coding. Makes it sooo much easier to follow.
3. I think the CSS for the template was autogenerated by one of these website builder things. When I was editing it I found it pretty difficult to work with and its not the way I would code the CSS. If the owners wanted me to work on the CSS for them Id be happy to get involved.
4. Id like to see an option for sellers to “Cancel” or put a “Hold” on their gigs if they cant carry them out at that point. Just now they have to delete them and then re-post them.
5. A refund system would be cool. So if refunds were to be issued in some cases then it would be cool if a refund could be issued to the users account. So instead of issuing a Paypal refund you simply add the funds into their website account with you and they can use it to buy more gigs.

Overall though an excellent script at an excellent price and a quick and easy way to start a new business. I love it! Its been fun playing with it anyway. Whether my website takes off, who knows? Its still a cool website.

So have a look at the demos here and buy it!! Fiverr Clone Script Download

• A Few Bob – The UK fiverr alternative – UK Gigs Marketplace

I do have a tendancy to be very hard on my jeans, in the way that I wear them almost everyday! Yes I probably should wash them more but hey I dont feel like they get dirty except around the leg hem. Anyway basically I have around two pairs of jeans that I wear constantly, usually within a week the leg hem will disintegrate (you get that annoying raggidy bit at the back), then within 4-6 weeks the front fabric becomes worn and rips (I use a laptop constantly).

• New pair of half price designer glasses from Lensway!
• PS3 Slim Review – Is skinny better?
• Noahs Classifieds Review – DO NOT BUY IT
• Blackberry Bold 9700 Review
• Simple:Press Forum Review – Is it the best forum for WP?

A lot of WordPress website owners either need or want a forum. After all they can add another social interaction tool, its another place to put your content and place ads. So we are agreed that a forum is cool and adds extra dimensions to your WP site but there are a few options out there but one for me stands out head and shoulders above the rest: SimplePress Forum (SPF).

SPF was born in 2006 after creator Andy Staines found existing forum plugins to be sub-standard and set about creating a simple yet effective forum plugin for his website. People started asking about it and for it and it was released as a plugin, from then on its gone from strength to strength with more features being added by request of SPF users.

I personally have been using SPF since 2008 and for me it is the most complete and feature rich forum plugin available today and Andy and Steve should be congratulated for all their hard work and unrivalled support (remember and donate too)!

SPF seemlessly integrates with WordPress, meaning users need only log in once to the website. You can also write posts in the usual way in WP admin and create Forum topics using said post. Even the comments on the WP Post and SPF Topic can be integrated. Users can build a comprehensive profile with an Avatar (although for a small minority of people this could become an issue…Ive explained more below) and expect all the features that the dedicated Forum scripts deliver like phpBB and vBulletin.

Well all in all SPF for me is THE best forum plugin for WP and has unrivalled functionality and support; Andy, Steve and helpers really do a fantastic job. However as mentioned above Avatars could cause a slow down issue for a minority of SPF users. I discovered this when I changed servers for one of my sites running SPF. I asked in the SPF Support forum and both Andy and Steve have been extremely helpful in trying to solve this problem (the full support thread is here). I also asked my server support guys and they said that the site is making loopback requests that are being blocked by the firewall???? Doi?

Andy eventually got me to try switching of the forums Avatar display. This resulted in my 10+ post topics to load in 4-5secs compared with the 35secs they were taking!! Of course I was thrilled to have a quick forum again but I had lost functionality which I like and users like; its a personal identifier which can portray a little about you or simply puts a face to a name.

So I kept annoying Steve and Andy over on the SPF support forum and they have been very patient and keen to solve the issue even if it is for a small minority of users!! So we tested varying sequences of Avatar calls and for me the tests revealed that the SPF Default Avatars and ther Uploaded Avatars seemed to be causing the slow down for some reason (which is still a mystery).

Andy then directed me to here: /library/sf-common-display/php and the function is sf_render_avatar() which is where the Avatar code is. I noticed the two case statements which seemed to be causing my slow down shared this variable: SFAVATARURL. After a number of bumbling tests I actually found something that worked!! It now displays the offending Avatars and does it quickly….so here it is; in Case 2 I changed line 257 from this:

$url = SFAVATARURL.$avfile;

to this:

$url = "www.mywebsite.com/wp-content/forum-avatars/".$avfile;

And in Case 3 I changed line 284 from this:

$url = SFAVATARURL.$image;

to this:

$url = "www.mywebsite.com/wp-content/forum-avatars/".$image;

Im still trying to work out exactly why this works for me and so are Andy and Steve, if we can determine why this is working then Im sure they will release a bug fix with this included. However I would be really interested in knowing if this fix works for others suffering a topic load slow down!! Then Steve, Andy and I will know its not just me and my server being weird!!

So I hope this helps the few SPF users which may be experiencing slow topic loading and hopefully a bug fix can be intergrated into the next release of SPF. Please if this does help you report back here and let me know as it will be a big help!!

Below are my forum avatar settings just incase you need these too:

My forums avatar settings found in Forum->Profiles->Avatars

• Login directly from a page in WordPress using a sidebar login form
• Menu only logged in users or certain users can see
• More Advanced Menu only logged in users or certain users can see
• Page Templates in WordPress
• Noahs Classifieds Review – DO NOT BUY IT

So what can I tell you about it? Well let’s start with the look and feel of the thing. The combination of polished black, chrome and the tactile leathery finish on the back give the 9700 a sleek, sexy and professional business look. The leather feel back also helps grip when typing on the dinky full qwerty keyboard.

Its definitely the most stylish looking business orientated smart phone I’ve seen.

And it really is smart and works for your business. Setting up your emails is super easy and they come through immediately! Not only that but a multitude of email attatchments can be downloaded and opened, even microsoft office documents.

Of course its all about the apps these days and there is plenty useful apps to choose from. Ubertwitter is one of mine and of course the WordPress app allowing me to write this review on the bus. Totally awesome! I love how easy it is to update my websites on the move.

Aside from the powerful business functions the 9700 boasts the usual features like mp3 playback and a 3.2 megapixel camera. One of the best featurews for me though and a real iphone beater is the use of SD card memory, allowing me to expand and swap my memory cards, something the iphone won’t let you do!

In conclusion I love the new BB Bold. The design and proportions are just right, it helps me make money and I can run various aspects of my business on the move and of course look good doing it.

I think its an iphone beater!!!

What are your thoughts?

• Bluehost vs Justhost vs Fasthosts Review – Whos the top web host?
• PS3 Slim Review – Is skinny better?
• Noahs Classifieds Review – DO NOT BUY IT
• Simple:Press Forum Review – Is it the best forum for WP?
• Banus Jeans; Designer Jeans for Men – Review

Their website found here: http://www.knowledgetoaction.co.uk is how shall I put it a bit spamy looking. You know the type a one page hash of sales jargon and impressive figures that are too good to be true.

However it was my friend who found it and I hadnt seen the website until today. Anyway it was free and I thought what the hell it sounds quite interesting.

So the speaker talked for over 2 hours and to be honest didnt really give to much away……obviously! It was basically an extended sales pitch and drive to recruit people on their intensive course where you are taught Greg Secker’s proven strategies by experts. Fair dos I spose.

There was some quite interesting info in there though and it definitely wetted my apetite to investigate the Forex market more. I dont think I will be joining Knowledge to Actions course costing £2000 though, plus you have to get down to London which is even more expense! No, I think I would much rather invest that £2K in the market and have a bash once Ive read up on the basics a bit more. This of course was frowned upon by the speaker who informed us all that the money was well spent on the course as you will lose your first £2k if you dont know what you are doing.

I wondered about his and Im sure a lot of the successful traders today didnt take their course or any other. My friend has a degree in economics and we are both fairly intelligent and we picked up some good tips from the seminar, we will do a lot more reading and maybe do some investing this summer, funds permitting.

The types of investment can vary and I still dont fully understand some of them as the seminar just touched upon them briefly. Some require a bit more initial capital and others can be utilised with a smaller budget.

All in all if you are interested in starting to invest in Forex then dont be afraid of going to this free seminar, it does have some useful tips if you can cut through the bull and sales pitch.

All I would say is look out for the contradictions, one minute its easy to make money with this system and its so simple, next the speaker cant complicate things by telling you any of the “secrets” now! Hum, oh well make your own mind up.

No related posts.