Mon, February 13 2012
Although I live in a fairly nice place, it could definitely use some improvements around the windows. There’s an obvious draft that I can feel coming in around my windows and while I try to stuff the cracks, the cats keep knocking down the towels I’ve had there. Add to it that my room has two exterior walls, making it the coldest in the house. It’s especially noticeable in the mornings, when I wake up and the temperature has dropped over night. It definitely makes it difficult to wake up.
Granted, there’s not much that I can do to fix that, living in a rented apartment, it’s definitely something that I would look into if I owned my own house or condo. I’d make sure all the windows were properly fitted and used techniques like double glazing, which helps to insulate a building by using double-paned glass with space in between them to trap a pocket of air and prevent heat from leaving the building.
It sounds a little less tasty than, say, a glazed donut but I love living in comfort. Interesting enough, this technique was invented in the United Stats 80 years ago but it didn’t pick up in other places, like the UK, until more recently. It’s definitely a shame and some consumers are just starting to seek out more information and compare costs between different companies that offer this service.
Sun, February 12 2012
If this isn’t your first time at Reviews by Cole, then you know two things.
- Gift cards are my favorite type of giveaway.
- I like to host giveaways for my visitors.
So it should come as no surprise that I have decided to host a giveaway for a $60 EdenFantasys gift card. That’s a pretty penny. I mean, do you know how many bottles of Mountain Dew I could buy for that? Not from EdenFantasys, of course. They’re more suitable for when you want to purchase sex toys, lingerie, massage goodies, gag gifts and, now, lots and lots of awesome beauty products. They now carry make-up, lotions, lip gloss, shampoo and a variety of fragrances. I have slow, but surely, been adding to my personal collection of Cake beauty and now have more lip gloss tubes than any one lady has a right to have.
Shopping is pretty easy, whether you use your own money of a hard-won gift card. Plus, you can always save a buck or two when checking out by using a coupon code (try ROSES for 20% off this Valentine’s Day weekend or 9br for 15% off any time!).
My most favorite recent additions are:
So, if you’d like to win so you can purchase your own goodies, pay attention. Simply leave one comment below for each of the following entries.
Giveaway will end on February 29.
Good luck!
Sat, February 11 2012
A while back, I was writing an article about iOS games and I realized that there was a version of MapleStory for iOS and, in fact, it had recently become free to download so I snagged it for the iPod Touch. I was excited to try it because MapleStory’s format could really work well on the smaller screen and they never released the DS game in the United States.
I was immediately disappointed by the fact that MapleStory Thief Edition only allows you to create male characters. I enjoy creating female characters; I identify with my gender. Still, I gave it a go and was soon making a throwing-star wielding assassin, similar to one of my characters in the MMO.
The iOS game uses the same graphics that I’ve come to love. There’s an adorable Asian flair and it’s simple enough to work on the iPod Touch in a smaller version. The graphics could perhaps be a bit smoother but my second generation iTouch probably renders them a little more poorly than newer iOS devices. However, the screen of my iPod Touch is small enough that I found the touch controls to be awkward and too small for my fingers. There’s an on-screen D-pay on the lower left but I find myself wishing I had the deal D-pay of my DS. On the bottom right are permanent jump and regular attack buttons and there are 4 quick-slots along the right edge.
The D-pad is small enough to be awkward but it’s the jumping that kills me, literally. You can set up the game so the side arrows keep you moving until you press another button or so that you have to hold a side arrow to keep moving. Either way, it’s incredibly difficult to line up the side arrow and jump button action required to jump up onto the impossibly tiny platforms, especially with your hands covering half the screen. I think that’s an obvious failure that could have been avoided had the developer given more time to how this game would work on a portable device, rather than a computer screen.
I also wish that I could change the jump and attack buttons, or perhaps just the attack button. As a thief, I stop using the single attack as soon as I get Lucky 7, a skill that allows me to throw multiple stars at once so this is a waste of space. Right now, I have that skill, another attack and health potions in my quick-slots and there’s just not enough room in every sense. I often wind up hitting the wrong button because they are so close together and, because the game offers more skills by default, you either have to be damned good to avoid dying so that you can use those spaces for skills and not potions or essentially only rely on two skills — assuming you leave two slots for potions. It’s frustrating.
The plot is a scaled down version of MapleStory so there’s a lot of running around and doing quests, to collect 15 of this or kill 20 of that. It’s grinding at its best but grinding isn’t bad for an iOS game, which I’m likely playing to cure boredom or waste a few moments anyway. Because of its limitations, I wouldn’t want to play more than that anyway.
There is a shift in terms of power, attack and monster levels so it’s not quite the same as MapleStory. For example, the world consists of just three continents: Orbis/El Nath, Magatia and Victoria Island, which have been moved so as to fit against one another in the world map. The mini map is a ridiculous disaster which simple consists of colored pixels to shows platforms, NPCs, portals and your own character. Of course, you can’t hover or touch any of the blocks for more information so it’s pretty much useless.
In fact, this game lacks intuitiveness overall. Aside from the quick slots and the on-screen health and magic scales, you have to press a little suitcase icon to view any other settings or information. This includes character info, items, equipment, skills, quests and options. The options are pretty lame: you can choose to use sound effects, background music, both or none, automatic movement — that I mentioned before and speed of your character.
The quest list is frustrating because there’s no room for a quest helper on the main screen; however, the game does divide it into main quests and sub quests so you know where to focus. You have to tap to open every single quest, though. The list doesn’t even give an overview, which would be nice.
There is no option to sell items or equipment but a trash can to simply discard them from your inventory. To learn more about what you’re carrying, you must tap the individual item, which quickly becomes old. The same is said for the skills. However, there’s an additional frustrating measure because you have to tap the quick-slots then choose a skill to add and the game doesn’t tell you this anywhere.
Perhaps the biggest software flaw is the lack of auto-save. You have to manually save your game after every achievement and that’s just unacceptable.
While this won’t be the case for everyone, this game drains my battery like none other. It also causes my iPod Touch to become noticeably warmer but not hot. There’s some lag as well. All in all, I’m sure it will perform better on a newer and more powerful device.
MapleStory Thief Edition isn’t the worst game I’ve ever downloaded and I have more fun playing it than the version on Facebook but it’s also more frustrating.
Mon, February 6 2012
Clean & Clear Morning Burst Fruit Infusions Facial Hydrating Cleanser
When it was time to buy a new facial cleanser, I decided that maybe I would try something new. I have to hand it to Clean & Clear in that the entire Fruit Infusions line smells amazing. Seriously, amazing. I would have been happy with the scent of any of them; although, each one has a slightly different purpose.
The hydrating cleanser features pineapple, coconut, and açaí in a yellow pump bottle. It smells diving, really. I’m a big fan of coconut and pineapple and you can really smell those ingredients. I’m not sure what acai berry actually smells like and I can’t detect a lot of berry in the cleanser but I’m okay with that.
The pump bottle works well but it’s a little bulky when compared with similar products. On the bright side, its size and color make it easy to find in the shower, especially if you’re bleary-eyed in the morning. The pump dispenses the thick creamy cleanser almost too well. A full pump really gives me a lot of product so I try to only push it halfway down or so.
Because this cleanser is a cream, it feels a bit odd. I’m more a fan of foaming facial cleansers or gels. It doesn’t really lather as much as it spreads around and this makes my skin feel a little less clean but this may just be a weird personal habit. The bottle states that this contains strawberry seeds, which I assume are intended to be exfoliants. They are in there but there’s only ever one or two in each pump so it doesn’t feel very effective to that end. I would still use a daily toner or weekly exfoliator with this product.
At the end of the day, its effectiveness is the most important part and I am torn. I broke out a lot when I first switched to this cleanser and my skin felt greasy by the end of the night. After a few weeks, this has stopped, thankfully. I’m not dealing with any major break-outs. However, I feel like some of the Neutrogrena face washes I have used are just a bit more effective at clearing up my skin and in a shorter time frame.
In terms of hydration, I can’t complain. My skin feels soft — perhaps softer than usual — and hydrated enough but I always use a daily moisturizer so, even in the winter, my face isn’t as dry as other parts of my body.
So would I buy Clean and Clear Morning Burst Fruit Infusions cleanser again? Maybe. I’d probably like to try the other scents but I’m not sure if it’s worth the money if other products that I’ve used work at a better price.
Fri, February 3 2012
I received two awesome coupons for Duncan Hynes products from one of the review networks I’m in and I decided to use them for brownies and this cake mix. Unfortunately, I just really didn’t like either product.
Preparation: Mix the regular cake mix in a large bowl and the caramel filling in another. Fill a pan with the mix, pour the caramel mixture on top and swirl it around with a knife for presentation. Bake normally. This was easier than I expected and I only needed eggs, water and oil.
Texture: After cooking, the cake was fluffy like you would expect. THe caramel sauce cooked to a sort of gooey, glazed gel. This made the cake more interesting and is perfect moist enough that you wouldn’t need to add frosting. In my opinion, a drippy glaze — like the new ones by Duncan Hines — are perfect for this type of cake. I bought a regular tub of icing and melted some but you could probably also use those ice cream toppers.
Taste: This cake was okay. It was sweet but it didn’t really hit the nail on the head in terms of the flavors it was supposed to have. Now, I’ve never had an apple cake because but I would have loved chunks and caramel tends to be gooey more than gel-like. It was an okay cake but, to be honest, I had a few pieces before I forgot about it. I eventually wound up throwing the rest away.
Nutrition: Each box is meant to feed 12 with 18% of total fat and 15% of your daily value of saturated fat. In my opinion, it’s not good enough to warrant those numbers.
Verdict: Next time, I’ll stick to apple slices in real caramel. Yum.
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I'm Cole, a 20 something female newely returned to Central Wisconsin after my divorce. I review products in my free time. I also enjoy reading (fantasy), TV and movies (sci fi), music (mainly rock and metal), maintaining my numerous websites, chatting, and spending time with my friends and kitties...