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10th September 2008Educational Software Without Bunnies Or HedgehogsLearning is a fantastic process that is carried out by all of us every day, whether you are 5 or 105. Then why when it comes to educational software, do the majority of programs have these silly pre school graphics? Granted they can be useful for very early learners but those looking to improve their number skills or sentence building can be any age and in my experience of teaching, are put off by this sort of software that is mostly available from the big companies. What is more they tend to go from one extreme to the other, making often too simple software pitched to 4 and 5 year olds and then producing programs that have so many menus and tool bars that the user is left completely bewildered. Let us also not forget that not all learners are children. Many teenagers and adults, often through no fault of their own, need to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. As an example, my own son has ADHD, which many consider a disability but in fact, with the right help, it can be turned into a huge benefit. Attention Deficit Disorder sufferers often have many extraordinary skills but often find conventional studying extremely hard, as they cannot focus for too long. Many are able to multi task at an extremely fast rate, so it is just that their brains are working in a different way to others and it is certainly not because they are deficient in some way. Other special needs people are very versatile in other areas too. For example dyslexics, who can design fantastic architecture or engineering feats but find it harder to understand the written word. We don't all have fit in the same round hole. So as educational software developers, we have a duty to understand our users and to try and help them in whatever way we can. Often by just listening, a program can be tweaked a little to open it up to new users, who before had no hope of using it. I hope this will inspire educational software authors to look at their products and bear this in mind when developing new ones. 12th May 2008Funny PhotosI couldn't resist taking these two local shots here in Cyprus. Hope you like them.   Beware of the Queen Witch of the Sand, BLT and her arch rival egg mayonnaise!! 3rd February 2008The Creeps Shall Inherit The EarthWhilst out for a quiet Sunday afternoon walk and taking some wildlife photos, I was reminded of just how many scumbags there are all around us. I was crouching very still, photographing the lizard below and no, I'm ashamed to say I haven't got a clue what species it is, I just liked the look of him/her. The silence was broken by a four wheel drive pick-up which screeched to halt about 200 metres from where I was. The driver and his mate then proceeded to empty the rubbish content of their van into the small gulley below. Old pipes, sinks, tyres etc., joined the quiet habitat of small wild creatures and flourishing fauna.  Five minutes after they had driven off, another pick-up appeared and proceeded to do exactly the same. The whole area was festooned with piles of crap, so this was obviously a regular Sunday pastime for the local jerks. If I'd been able to catch their licence plates, I would have taken some photos of them and advised the local council, but sadly I wasn't able to see them, just the sides of the vehicles. 
17th January 2008Bowling Game Free AgainI have just returned my popular ten pin bowling game to freeware. You
can get a copy at:  16th January 2008New Free Game AddedI have just added a new free game to my software website. It is my version of the classic breakout game. It's called Blobby Breakout and non members of my website can download a free copy. Check it out here.  9th December 2007Cold Feet Or Warm Rugs?We have recently moved home and are busy making our small new apartment as comfortable as possible. It is a fairly new place and has tiled floors so we decided to add some rugs to give it a much warmer feel. I was surprised to find that you can actually buy rugs over the internet as our search locally had only shown us expensive options. www.superiorrugs.com was one such site we found on the net and their range is very extensive but not so expensive. They seem to cater for every taste and all come direct from their factory. They are apparently one of the largest manufacturers of Oriental and Persian area rugs and distribute all over the world. Selling directly to the public without any middleman means they can supply quality rugs at discounted prices. On their website you can search by size, type, shape and colour, though some of the pictures are missing which causes that little red cross to come up in a blank square. Most, however, are shown in full colour and there is the facility to zoom in and take a closer look at your intended purchase. www.superiorrugs.com boast a 110% price match guarantee, plus they have free shipping and a 30 day money back guarantee. There is a guide to buying the right area rug for your home and a clearance section with up to 80% off. There's really nothing like swinging your feet out of bed onto a deep pile rug in the morning. It is in stark contrast to touching your tootsies down onto a cold tiled floor! Superior rugs do seem to have a great collection of luxury and budget area rugs to add a touch of real quality to your home. The vivid colours and very different and individual designs does make it a bit difficult to choose between them but It's much easier to look through many more rugs than you could ever hope to see in any retail store. 20th October 2007Tip To Make Money From Your Website Or BlogDisplay the slide show photo news clips above, on your website or blog, to add interesting and dynamic content. Plus you get paid for showing them. Click on the Embed (E) button to add this to your website or blog for free. 11th October 2007New WebsiteCheck out my new World video news website runVTnews.com 29th June 2007New Program - UK Parish FinderI have today added the following new program to my software website www.greyolltwit.com UK Parish Finder - A genealogy program to help with locating Parishes in the UK  When searching for information on United Kingdom relatives or finding out your roots through tracing your family tree (genealogy) you will no doubt come across the seemingly endless number of parishes that used to exist in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A parish is an area covered by a church or churches in the UK. There can be many parishes within a District and many Districts can exist within a County. The four UK countries are split into these counties. All of these have moved their boundaries over the years and so finding an old parish where the births, deaths and marriages records are kept can be very daunting. Many parishes still exist today but old records often only show the parish name. You then have the task of finding where in the UK that parish might have been and where the records might be kept now. Confused already? This is why I made the program, to help in searching all the old parish names, to find out which District, County and Country they are in. More details and download at http://www.greyolltwit.com/parishfinder.html 24th June 2007Oh Dear Tony Please, Please Piss On Me NextAfter completely ruining our country and our relationship with the rest of the world, Mr Tony Blair had to give one more final stream of hot piss in our faces before he left as prime minister. The knighthood given to Salman Rushdie is a complete insult not just to the Islamic world but also to us poor bloody English people. This bastard insulted the Islamic World back in 1988 with his book the Satanic Verses and Iran issued a fatwa (death threat) against him. Why the bloody hell did the islamic world not carry it out rather than their extremists killing thousands of innocent people. If truth be known this book and this evil man, was much to blame for the huge increase in terrorism since 1988 and yet our Government rewards him with a bloody knighthood. Plus God knows how many hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent (probably millions) on police protection for this slime ball for years after this death threat.  This creature has done absolutely nothing for our Country. It should be Salman Rushdie RIH (Rot In Hell) not Sir Salman Rushdie. 6th June 2007The Vine StoreSponsored Post:Well you could have knocked me down with a feather, I never would have believed that something as simple as a wine rack could be available in so many shapes, sizes and materials. The folks over at The Vine Store have a fantastic collection and if you think about it for a moment, it makes complete sense to have your favourite tipple on display in a way that matches with your decor and how much room you have available. They have everything you need to store your wine correctly whether it's in your kitchen, dining or living room or full blown rack systems down in a cellar, if you have one. The Vine Store has the usual designs in wood, metal etc., that you may have seen before but I can guarantee you will not have seen many of their other designs. I particularly liked the wrought iron ones. Most are sure to be a talking point when you have guests round. Their website is attractive and easy to navigate, plus the prices are really very reasonable. The other great thing about The Vine Store is that you can have a glass or two of your favourite Chablis and still go shopping, from the comfort of you're own home, no driving involved! Many of they're wine racks are so unique, I think they'll make great gifts and if you're not sure which one to choose for a present, then they do gift certificates as well, plus a whole load of other wine accessories. 
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