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Queer Eye 6 Review: New Year’s Eve Netflix Return For Fab Five In Ireland

Marty
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Queer Eye 6 Review: New Year’s Eve Netflix Return For Fab Five In Ireland

I’ve started a few articles like this. It’s been a horrid two years. The past few days have been social media feeds of antigen tests and isolations. Some glimmers of hope and humour from time to time, but lots of reasons to be down too. I noticed my mood was lifted quite a bit lately and couldn’t put my finger on why until I remembered the embargo of Queer Eye 6 lifts today. I’ve watched the entire season six already and man oh man is it the healing we all need right now.

When Does Queer Eye 6 Come Out On Netflix?

The bad news is that I’ve binged Queer Eye because I had screener access. The good news is that your wait is nearly over. Queer Eye Season Six launches on Netflix on December 31st, also known as New Year’s Eve.

Is Queer Eye Season 6 Worth Watching?

With every fibre of my being, I say yes. I beg you to watch it. I felt every episode heal me. I’m not going to lie, I got emotional watching about 50% of the episodes. There’s just no badness in any of the “Fab Five”. Instead, they emanate pure goodness. The news and social media is nothing but doom and gloom these days. Queer Eye Season Six is the break from it all you need. It’s ten hour-long episodes of people catching a much-needed break in life.

Season Six is based solely in Texas. This of course adds to the impact of this season given that American is still wrestling with Trump’s legacy and Texas remains a Republican (read conservative) stronghold. This new season covers a lot but does make time specifically for an Asian-owned business whose owner experienced increased racism following the Covid outbreak and a member of the trans community who has lost touch with her father following a coming out. These two episodes alone show how Queer Eye keeps a finger on the pulse of today’s biggest problems and the real impacts which may fly under your radar.

After watching the ten episodes of Season Six, I was sad, but it was a happy kind of sad. I felt fulfilled. Reminded there’s good in the world. Reminded that despite the problems everywhere in the world has, there are beams of light to be found.

What Is Queer Eye Season Six About?

Much like previous seasons of Queer Eye, Series Six follows the “Fab Five” as they give people in need a leg up in life. The “Fab Five” is  Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness (who I think is my favourite), Tan France, and Karamo Brown. Each has a speciality. For example, Antoni helps people learn how to cook, while JVN helps their clients with skin, hair and general beauty. Queer Eye is not about just making people look great (though they do). It’s about helping people feel comfortable in their own skin and being more confident in their day to day lives.

Yeah, JVN is my fave.

I remember, not too long ago, I’d never watched a single episode of Queer Eye. I didn’t think it would be for me. Fast forward to last week when a tear dangled beneath my eye watching a Texan woman absolutely glow up with newfound confidence to wear her natural hair. I think this may have been the moment of the series for me. Let’s give that a quick countdown.

Moments To Watch Out For In Queer Eye Season Six

Spoilers ahoy. I recommend watching the series without reading these bits though I’m not going to go into great detail.

Episode One: Natural Hair Reveal

A honky tonk dancing teacher reveals her natural hair after refusing to allow JVN to see her without her wig. It took me forever to even realise she was wearing a hairpiece (though naturally, JVN noticed almost immediately). The series had to stop filming because of Covid but when they return to see the woman again, she’s wearing her natural hair. Honestly, my mind was blown. It’s a season, if not series, highlight.

Episode Two: Love During Transition

Can love conquer all? What your partner comes out as trans? This was Angel’s story, whose girlfriend stuck with her throughout. Is she pansexual now? I don’t know, nor do I think these labels really matter beyond love winning out.

Episode Three: Not All Republicans

Not all Americans, nor even Republicans are bad. I’ve been reminded of that a lot lately. This entire episode surrounds a man you’d never expect to see get along with the Fab Five. It’s a must-watch episode because it challenges a lot of the preconceived notions we have developed following Trump’s reign.

Episode Nine: All The Food

Dublin is full of amazing Asian eateries that took me way too long to find. I’m guessing there are plenty of others around who’ve not tried them yet. This episode showcases some stunning Asian deserts which is just one small part of the culinary delights from my fave part of the world.

Queer Eye Season Six is streaming exclusively on Netflix from New Year’s Eve, December 31st, 2021.

Tesla Resale Value Question Marks As Owner Blows Up Model S

Marty
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0
Tesla Resale Value Question Marks As Owner Blows Up Model S

Electric cars seem to be the future right? Even though hydrogen power might very well be the idea; alternative fuel, electric cars just seem to be the ever-growing unavoidable choice right now. Unfortunately, electric cars are far from perfect for quite a few reasons, not least of which is range and charge time. But another issue is making quite a lot of noise right now, quite literally. Finnish Tesla owner, Tuomas Katainen, has blown his Tesla up with explosives after hearing his battery needed to be replaced and it wouldn’t be covered by warranty at a cost of over €20,000.

Tuomas Katainen And His Tesla

Here’s the story in full. Katainen bought his Tesla back in 2013. He enjoyed a short honeymoon period of about 1500km before the error notifications started to ping in the cockpit. Tesla cars ain’t cheap. To buy one in Ireland right now, even a demo, will set you back over €60,000. It’s no surprise that a Tesla owner would be left fairly irate with an unfixable problem after just eight years.

But that’s what happened to Katainen. After loads of errors and issues, he was told that his Tesla Model S would require a new battery.

Tesla Battery Warranty

The good news is that Tesla does offer a battery warranty. The bad news is that you’re only covered for eight years or 150,000km. And that’s why the next year is going to be a bit louder for angry Tesla owners. The 2013 Model S will be widely coming out of its first warranties. Owners, like Katainen, will be hearing they need new batteries and that they need to foot the bill to the tune of €20,000.

And here we have the Achilles heel of electric cars. A couple of years ago I made shite of the engine in my first car; a Nissan Micra. That’s a sizeable part of your car to break but still, it was back on the road within a month for under €1,000. Electric car batteries costing €20,000 after eight years will put a lot of people off buying a car whether they plan to have it in eight years or not. The hit on resale value for the second-hand market here is massive.

Blowing Up A Tesla

And this is why Tuomas Katainen decided to blow his Tesla Model S into smithereens. Sure enough, it’s a bit of a waste but still, I kind of get it. Why pay €20,000 to fix a €90,000 car? Ok, it’s better than blowing it up perhaps, but I feel Katainen had a point to make here and he has done that, with a bang.

Tuomas Katainen’s Tesla moments before being destroyed by 30kg of explosives

It’s a clever move too. Katainen’s video now has over 3.5 million views on YouTube which could already have raked in around €35,000 in ad revenue.

Agree or disagree with his approach, Katainen will undoubtedly have done damage to more than just his own Tesla here. Knowing an eight-year-old car can have dire issues that fall out of warranty will almost certainly put people off dipping their toe into the second-hand Tesla market.

Google Pixel 6 Pro Review: Can Compromise Pay Off?

Marty
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Google Pixel 6 Pro Review: Can Compromise Pay Off?

2021 has produced some great phones. I’ve had my hands on the cumbersome but impressive Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and loved it. I was converted from the Pixel 5 to the iPhone 12 in a big swing that was somewhat unexpected. But now, after a prolonged period of testing the new Google Pixel 6, I’m happy to put pen to paper on a review that says this is one of the best phones of 2021, pending one final review of the iPhone 13 Pro series, coming soon. The Pixel 6 Pro isn’t perfect, no phone is, but it’s absolutely fantastic.

The Latest Addition To The Google Pixel Family

Google has had an identity crisis when it comes to its flagship smartphones. Ever since moving away from Nexus and coming in-house, they’ve thrown their hat at various styles and iterations of Pixel. Shapes and designs changed dramatically along with core philosophies that drive Google’s smartphone product. This year, the company announced both the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Both phones are similar but with one just slightly more premium. That’s the one in this review.

Google Pixel 6 Pro Design

Nothing says back to the drawing board quite like the bold design of the Google Pixel 6 family. A single straight bar across the back of the phone is the first thing you can’t help but notice. Did I like it at first? No. However, it makes sense. The phone doesn’t rock when it’s on your desk and it lets Google fit in some impressive camera hardware so desperately sought after for years. More on that later.

The design of the Pixel 6 Pro screams “we’re doing things differently”. Not from other brands, but from what Google has done to date. In fact, more than ever, with exception of the phone’s back, the Pixel 6 Pro is the most “like everyone else” phone Google has ever designed. I mean that in terms of physically to look at.

Gone is the playful colour power button, which I miss along with the odd decision to flip the volume rocker and power button. Also, the “power button” isn’t even a power button, requiring a two-button press to access power options, a trend that needs to stop in my eyes.

The Pixel’s display flows over the edges of the 6.7-inch display where you’ll find a pinhole selfie camera. The display is ok. It pales in comparison to the iPhone 13 Pro Max display when it comes to pure clarity, but it’s still ok. Rather surprisingly, despite the size of the phone, it’s substantially lighter (210g) than both the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (227g) and the iPhone 13 Pro Max (240g).

Despite the rather bold and exciting design on the back, Google has conformed to wider design trends on the front. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s a remarkably unremarkable phone to look at. Until you turn it on.

Google Pixel 6 Pro Software

When I reviewed the Pixel 5 you could read my obvious delight at Google’s stock Android running on a phone designed by Google was just art. This year, I’m less impressed by Android 12 but I’m blown away with how smart Google’s broader intelligent software is on the Pixel 6 Pro. My better half is German and my German isn’t great which has left me leaning on Google Translate more than once in my life. The Pixel 6 Pro can proactively translate German messages I’ve been sent in Signal and is also able to more accurately translate live diction.

Indeed, dictation and voice typing on the Pixel 6 Pro is an absolute highlight of using this phone. Even with my “paddy bog man” accent, the Pixel is able to pick up on what I’m saying. This is excellent for messaging people but really came into its own during a customer care issue I was having over webchat. No fiddly typing out the details. Instead, I could just speak as my phone perfectly transcribed what I said into a typed message.

The Pixel 6 Pro is simply packed full of smarts. Another excellent feature, which I did write about already our of pure excitement, is Call Screening. Don’t know who’s calling? No problem, Google can handle that for you whether it’s a potential scam or just an unknown number while you’re in a meeting.

Camera On The Pixel 6 Pro

Welcome to the main event. Google hasn’t upgraded their camera hardware in some time, but the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro finally gave us some fresh hardware to assess. Google’s camera software was the driving force in recent years but now we get the physical improvements to go with that.

The Pixel 6 Pro camera is the best smartphone camera I’ve ever used. That statement does run a little more ragged in low light or if you want to zoom, but for general photography, every shot slams.

I’m addicted to portrait mode. I use it both for product shots for reviews, here on Goosed, and for beer tasting. The camera just never fails to deliver a stunning shot.

weights in a gym shot on pixel 6 pro
Some edges get blurred, but the sheer clarity of the rest of the shot keeps your attention

It’s still not perfect, but the clarity of the rest of your shot tends to grab your attention more than any imperfections. If it’s video you’re more into, you’re covered too. It’s mad to think that just a few years ago gimbals were an essential piece of kit but now smartphone’s have incredible shot stability built-in. I love Google’s Cinematic Pan which slows your video, removes audio but gives stunning stability. It’s really handy if you’re a creator.

Magic Eraser

But let’s say you haven’t taken the best shot ever. Someone has photobombed you or there’s just some sort of blemish in the background. Again, Google’s smarts come into play. Magic Eraser lets you wipe out things from your photo. It can be a person, a thing or even just a smudge. Google’s AI kicks in and cleverly tries to work out what would have been in the background. It’s more hit than miss and works most times I need it.

Just check out these shots I grabbed in Portobello.

The original shot is on the left, with Google’s Magic Eraser doctored shot on the right. Slide to compare.

Just look at how smoothly you can remove people and even light poles from photos. As I said, it doesn’t always work but usually does.

Things I Don’t Like About The Pixel 6 Pro

There are so many great things to say, but I’m not going to lie; it’s not a perfect phone. There are a few things I didn’t like.

Battery

It’s impossible for me to avoid reviews considering how widely covered the Pixel 6 series has been. I’ve noted many reviewers saying the battery life is much improved for Google’s flagship. To be fair, it has. The downside of that statement is that it’s only measuring against Google. There are plenty of better batteries on the market and charging just isn’t that fast despite Google saying it is. Adaptive Battery is clever, powering your phone more when you need it and slowing charge to 100% based on your alarm, but it’s still just an ok battery.

Unlocking

The fingerprint sensor is slow. Noticeably slow. Google claims this is deliberate and in the name of security, but I have my doubts. I’ve come from the iPhone 12 and became quite accustomed to FaceID. Still, I was looking forward to a fingerprint sensor again given the whole mask thing, but alas it let me down.

I’m going to lump buttons in here too. The lack of a dedicated power button is irritating and even more so that Google killed the lovely accented colour that the single button used to have. Also, they flipped the volume rocker and “power” button. All annoying, but you get used to it.

Availability

I’m going to actually have to add “traditional availability” to this. If you want to buy your new phone on the high street you can only buy the Google Pixel 6 directly from Vodafone, not the Pixel 6 Pro. You’ll have to buy directly from Google if you want the Pixel 6 Pro, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Buying directly combined with clever shopping for a great SIM-only plan usually means you’ll spend less over a usual 24-month contract period while retaining your flexibility.

Google Pixel 6 Pro: The Verdict

Right now, this is my phone of the year. But I’ll be getting my hands on the iPhone 13 Pro shortly to put that through its paces. That said, I thought I’d never move back from the world of iPhone until the Pixel 6 Pro landed in, and here’s the kicker. Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are stunning phones but only cost €649 and €899. That means Google’s flagships are significantly less than most competitors.

Between value and the sheer joy the Pixel 6 Pro brought me, it’s an easy-to-recommend phone to anyone. It’s just so solid, takes the best photos I’ve ever seen in a smartphone and is great value.

Irish YouTuber has 150 Videos Delisted and Demonetised Overnight

Alex
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Irish YouTuber has 150 Videos Delisted and Demonetised Overnight

It’s not controversial to say that YouTube’s copyright claim system is not fit for purpose. In theory, it’s there to protect content from creators such as musicians, artists, and animators. If someone was to upload something you made and make money off it, you’d be furious, wouldn’t you? Of course, you would! However, YouTube’s current model for making sure this doesn’t happen goes too far in the opposite direction. That’s how an Irish Youtuber by the name of Mark Fitzpartick (TotallyNotMark to you and me) got 150 of his videos effectively deleted overnight.

The Situation

Mark’s channel is largely an anime and manga review channel. He makes top-notch content that’s gotten me, and many others, through lockdown. On top of that, he’s a talented artist in his own right with many videos of him and his staff drawing fan-favourite characters in styles of different comics or manga. He’s reviewed some of the top series from Japan over the last couple of years. The likes of Dragon Ball and One-Piece make up the bulk of his content, but he’s also got videos on Hunter X Hunter, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Berserk to name but a few.

Now, the Dragon Ball and One-Piece anime are owned by a company called Toei animation, one of the biggest animation studios in Japan. These are the shows that are at the center of all this. In the space of a few hours, Toei Animation had gone through Mark’s channel and claimed that 150 of his videos were in breach of copyright as they “contained content owned by Toei”. I’ll explain those inverted commas later. In what must have been total shock, Mark took to Twitter and YouTube with a video explaining his current situation. I would urge you to watch it as he outlines where he stands excellently.

What’s the process?

If a YouTube video gets claimed by a third party for copyright the uploader has the right to challenge this. The party that claimed the content, in this case, Toei, can then decide if the challenge is legitimate. This essentially gives the claimant all the power. This process can go back and forth twice until the uploader gets issued a strike by YouTube. The strike will be removed if the content is successfully reuploaded either by the say-so of the claimant or after a certain amount of time has elapsed. But here’s the kicker, too many strikes and your channel will get deleted permanently. This is why it would take so long to claim all 150 videos. Toei can just ignore the challenges seeing as they lose nothing either way meaning Mark can only challenge so many claims at once.

As Mark says in the video he and his company are in dire straits. He cannot monetise nearly three years’ worth of his work and he essentially cannot get all the videos back any time soon. Again, as he says in the video, he would be nearly seventy years old by the time his channel was restored if he followed through and jumped through the myriad bureaucratic hoops. Mark started his channel after a shitty day at work and now he has just had a shitty couple of days at his dream job. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel for the guy.

And here’s the thing; Mark has done nothing wrong. Every one of the videos is covered under practically any definition of “Fair Use”. He’s using short amounts of animation to highlight points he’s making in video essays. That’s it, if even. Remember when I said that Mark was a talented artist? Those videos I mentioned where he’s just drawing the characters have been claimed as well, even though they contain no animation owned by Toei. Remember those inverted commas earlier? Yeah.

How do things stand right now?

Thankfully Mark’s video and Tweets have gained a good bit of traction online with content creators rowing in behind him. Philip DeFranco and PweDiePie have discussed the situation on their channels while animators like Rubber Ross have made their feelings known on Twitter. The aim of all of this is of course to get the videos reinstated and have Toei make some kind of statement apologising for their actions. However, this needs to also trigger a deeper review of YouTube’s copyright claims system in general. There’s no perfect system for sure, but this is about as far from perfect as it gets.

If you want to help out there are a few things you can do. Sharing this article or Mark’s tweets would be an easy starter for ten. Sharing Mark’s video would be another great way to get the word out. Check out the content he still has on YouTube as well, it’s brilliant. He’s just started a three-part review of all the live-action Spider-Man movies for something he calls Spideycember. Some of his claimed videos are even on his Patreon so if you want to chuck him a few euro I’m sure that would go a long way. I’ve been a patron of his for a while now and I’ve upped my contribution since this has come out. Finally, Mark is calling for a boycott of all Toei animations until something is done. This means no streaming, buying, or other legitimate viewings of their content. This includes the new Dragon-Ball Super movie coming out next year. This is a boycott that I’ll be taking part in despite Dragon Ball being my absolute favourite show. What has happened to Mark is absolutely shameful and we cannot continue to support companies that carry on like this and we need to stick up for independent creators who have done nothing wrong.

UPDATE

Through working with a YouTube rep some of the videos have been released by Toei, with more going up as I type. However, the majority remain blocked and Mark’s contacts with YouTube have resulted in him being directed to Google’s FAQ page (not exactly a huge help). Mark has also said that he has been bowled over by the support the community has shown him and that he will be donating his portion of Patron earnings to a charity that he will reveal later. He has also made a video letter in spoken Japanese with the help of a friend so that it may more easily reach Toei and the Japanese public. More details can be found in his video below.

IFI Teams Up With The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival

Marty
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IFI Teams Up With The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival has just announced a partnership with the Irish Film Institute, adding to an already brilliant list of new partners this year, including RTÉ.

A couple of years back, I was delighted to have Goosed.ie join The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival as a media partner. The festival embodies everything I love about technology and that general concept of “creativity coming from constraint”. In a recent post, the festival highlighted how it all began “in the basement of a hostel five years ago”. The 2022 festival is the ultimate sign of how far the festival has come, not least because the Irish Film Institute has just been confirmed as a partner to the event.

The Irish Film Institute And Dublin Smartphone Film Festival

It’s a bit mad to see how far the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival has come in the five years, but that’s what people always say. The truth is that it’s absolutely no surprise that the festival, under the leadership of director Robert Fitzhugh, has grown from strength to strength. This year RTÉ joined as a media partner too giving the festival a massive boost and the elevated status that it deserved.

dublin smartphone film festival
Mobile movie making gets big validation for 2022

The Irish Film Institute partnering with the event further validates that the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival truly is a world-leading film festival. It’s almost a cyclical thing to happen. Mainstream cinema has adopted smartphones into their filming. iPhone’s now have cinematic style cameras for filmmakers to use and create with and both the form and price of smartphones versus traditional equipment lend themselves to the creative process.

Now, the IFI joining with the festival closes the loop with mainstream recognition for the mobile moviemaking craft.

The 2022 Dublin Smartphone Film Festival

The festival returns in 2022 and that is very good news, indeed. Earlier, I said it’s not surprising the festival has been a success and that’s down to the quality of film I’ve seen from that very first event in Smithfield. The tools don’t matter when you are a great storyteller and that’s why I’m already looking forward to next years event, for which submissions are currently open and extended until February 1st 2022 following the announcement of the new partnership with the IFI. The festival will now also accept feature-length films.

The Festival will also now take place on the slightly later date of April 30th 2022. Fitzhugh says that while “the festival is a little further away” it’s going to be “the best it’s ever been.

Get Free Movies On Virgin Media This Weekend

Marty
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Get Free Movies On Virgin Media This Weekend

This December, Virgin Media will offer up two free movie weekends to TV customers. During both this weekend and the weekend commencing 17th December, customers will be able to choose from a catalogue of movies that usually cost €2.99, €3.99, €4.99 or €5.99. Just don’t watch more than ten and it’s all free.

How To Watch Free Virgin Media Movies

It’s nice and handy for Virgin Media TV customers to get a movie on, put the feet up and distract the kids for a bit. All you have to do is:

  • Click the On Demand button on their remote control, browse the movie catalogue in Virgin Movies, select their movie and click “Rent”.
  • Input your PIN code (Every Virgin TV customer has one) If you haven’t change it, the default PIN will be 0000. Your rental will not show up on your next bill (once you have booked it during the promotion period and you keep their viewing to less than 10 movies)

Cricut Joy Review: Start Crafting For Your Own Peace Of Mind

Marty
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Cricut Joy Review: Start Crafting For Your Own Peace Of Mind

The great thing about writing tech reviews is getting to try out the best things. It’s the obvious perk. It’s not always the latest smartphones that pique my interest. Actually, it’s more likely to be the more unusual and surprising things that get me really excited. In 2021, perhaps the most surprising thing to land in for review is the Cricut Joy. The amount of fun I had with this smart crafting machine should be criminal.

In this review I’m going to cover:

What Does The Cricut Joy Do?

Cricut Joy is a small home crafting machine. It’s kind of like a printer but it’s capable of doing much more than that. Once you plug in and open the hood, you’ll see a small clamp fly across where you can lock in either a pen, marker or cutting head. You can there run various materials through the Cricut Joy and have it cut or draw designs for you.

It’s a neat little machine that’s easy to carry with you

 As you can see, it’s a rather small piece of kit too so you would be able to transport it in a backpack rather easily.

What Can Cricut Joy Cut?

The Joy is the baby of Cricut’s range, but it can still cut through over fifty different materials. Some of the best stuff for beginners like me are the Cricut Smart materials. These include Smart Vinyl, Smart Iron-On, Smart Label Writable Paper and Smart Label Writable Vinyl. These are the perfect size for the machine and don’t need an additional placement card to align before cutting.

There’s a list as long as my arm of other Cricut Joy-compatible materials from paper-thin faux leather to cardboard, but trust me when I say it’s flexible. If you need something specific just check that list on the Cricut website.

Cricut’s smart materials and alignment cards are great for crafting Luddites like me. They make the Cricut Joy really accessible despite a complete lack of crafting ability But I was quickly able to go beyond the obvious greeting cards.

Do You Have To Pay A Cricut Subscription?

There is a subscription available to make making a little bit easier with Cricut. The subscription costs €10 per month or €100 per year. I tested it out and personally didn’t see the point of it because I’m handy enough with Photoshop.

Now that you’re up and running, here are some of the crafting projects I took on as an absolute beginner with my Cricut Joy.

Cricut Joy Beginner Projects

You can personalise pretty much anything you can think of with a Cricut Joy. The only limit is really that the Joy is Cricuts smallest machine, capable of cutting about fifty different materials. The bigger machines can handle over 300 materials and cut bigger dimensions. This aside, It’s really important that I get across just how dynamic the little Cricut Joy is for a wide range of projects.

Greeting Cards With Cricut Joy

The most obvious place to start with my first crafting project is making a greeting card. My sister is an avid crafter and makes some of the best cards I’ve ever seen along with plenty of other things too. As luck would have it, my Cricut Joy arrived in for review just before her birthday so I got crafting.

One of the Cricut tools used for smooth separation of card and cuts with my first homemade card.

The delivery of my Cricut Joy included some other bits and pieces too. There were some tools to help separate materials after cutting and the likes, but these aren’t included as standard. The kit also included some of Cricut’s own materials, the handiest of which were the greeting cards. This is what you see above. You get the outer card, the inner piece of card and an envelope to wrap it in.

Making the card was fairly simple. There are loads of templates in the Cricut Design Space app. This is where the magic happens. The Design Space is free to use but there is a monthly subscription to access some premium designs. I used the trial but haven’t continued to use it since as I’m handy enough with Photoshop and working out how to get the look and feel I want in my designs.

Also in Design Space is a template designed specifically for the Cricut card packs. These include cut templates which you can see in the picture above. The template lets you easily slide the inner card in to show off the message you’ve cut out.

Finally, I swapped the cutting head for a marker and drew a balloon animal while the whole card was really just to joke about my sister who makes amazing cards.

The “Cards by Marty” logo give it that extra personal, and slightly creepy, touch

Now, no matter what the event is, I can make a personalised card. It does depend on having time, and even more so for me, a unique idea that I think is really cool or funny. No matter what I make though, I make sure to print my own little logo on the back for that personal touch!

Personalised Beer Glasses With Cricut Joy

I’m not afraid of a side project. During lockdown I also got into tasting craft beer, starting The Hoppy Ending with a friend of mine. What’s a beer project without your own custom-made beer glasses?

A lovely Imperial stout in my homemade custom The Hoppy Ending glass

I was floored by two things making this custom glass. First of all, how easy it was. I pulled together some design workm lined things up, put the gold vinyl into the Cricut Joy and hit “cut”. Then, using some transfer tape, I lined everything up and it was done.

The bigger thing that surprised me was how tough this vinyl is. I’ll admit I don’t have a dishwasher which maybe makes the vinyl last a bit longer, but the glass was perfect for the bones of a year until I broke it. I’ve made a few other similar glasses and they’re all going strong. I use a few at home and have passed a few along to friends and family as gifts.

Now, whenever I post a beer tasting on Instagram, it will often be sitting in a branded glass giving the whole thing a very professional look; or at least I think it does anyway.

Ironing Designs Onto Clothes With The Cricut Joy

Sticking with the theme of personalising stuff to look all professional, I’m going to move on to some Goosed.ie merch I made. I’m a baseball cap guy along with loving a good jumper. The merch choices seemed pretty straightforward from here.

The official line of Goosed.ie merch. Very limited edition.

To make this merch, I needed iron-on material. I took the easy option and just bought Cricut’s iron-on material specifically designed for the Joy. It makes life pretty easy when you’re crafting with the materials designed to spec for the machine you have. It does add a little cost but not too much and as you get more experienced you can wander away from Cricut’s own lines.

Again, I lined up the designs in Cricut’s Design Space, hit “reverse” and then “cut”. Once completed, I cut the design out, stripped away the excess and then positioned it on both the jumper and baseball cap. Cricut does have its own special iron for this process, but I don’t think you really need it. I just used a regular iron and the job was done.

Despite the Joy’s small size, you’re not limited to small designs. I had another small project making some aprons for my “inlaws elect”. This required much bigger text which was passed through the Joy line by line to give more scale. We were delighted with the result which also showed me you really can personalise just about anything you can find out there.

Verdict: Is The Cricut Joy Worth It Or Expensive?

On the surface, I thought the entire world of Cricut was a bit pricey until I got hooked on it. I spent over €500 on my PS5 and can easily spend €80 or more on a game. Why? Because I’ll get hours of entertainment from it. This put the Cricut’s price into perspective for me. Now, I can spend some time crafting and shut out the rest of the world. It’s honestly therapeutic to let your creativity flow. Sure, it’s still possible to make a mistake and waste a couple of euros worth of vinyl, but it’s just generally fun.

Having a creative outlet in lockdown is so valuable. And I can totally see the appeal of machines like this to creatives. But what I want to finish on is just how much fun I get from this machine and I’m would have never classed myself as a crafter. But here we are.

The Cricut Joy is available from Harvey Norman for €190 and other outlets like Currys but at a slightly higher price. I’ve also bought various official Cricut materials on Amazon.co.uk.

Metroid Dread; The Goosed Review

Alex
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0
Metroid Dread; The Goosed Review

The queen is back! Metroid Dread is finally here and it’s everything we’ve ever wanted from the Metroid-Vania genre. I know I’m a little late in getting around to writing this but there’s one very good explanation for that. I can’t put the game down. I’ve just finished my 5th playthrough in a row and I can honestly say that this is my game of the year, bar none. But what makes it so special? What makes the decade and a half wait so worth it? Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you.

A Long and Winding Road

It’s been a long time since this 2007 screenshot

We first heard about Metroid Dread in 2005 when it was set to be the next 2D Metroid in the franchise (as opposed to the 3D Metroid Prime games) and as a direct follow up to Metroid Fusion on the GameBoy Advance. However, since that day it seems that it was stuck in development hell. It was teased in Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii and it was discussed in interviews and endless articles from Nintendo since. It wasn’t until earlier this year, though, that we got full confirmation that it was happening (for real this time) and that it would be released only a few months. Needless to say, this sent the fanbase into a frenzy of hype. Hype that Nintendo was all too happy to indulge, giving us trailer after trailer after trailer. I bought into the hype just as much as anyone and even brought my Switch with me in the car to work so I could install it after buying it on the drive home. I was ready to jump right in as soon as I crossed the threshold of my apartment.

What’s the Story?

You can tell there’s a lot of history on ZDR

Once I got past the menu screen, I was greeted with the welcome sight of a recap video for the franchise (remember, it’s been 19 years since the previous entry) before being given free rein to explore Planet ZDR to my heart’s content. Picking up right where Metroid Fusion left off, the Metroids have been all but eradicated from the galaxy along with the organism they were originally created to hunt, the X Parasite. However, a mysterious video of an X in the wild means our heroine, Samus Aran, must travel to the planet ZDR to investigate. In typical Metroid fashion, this is where things go badly for Samus, and she loses most of her abilities and weapons. It’s up to you to exterminate the X, find Samus’ abilities and take down the mysterious enemy that seems to be behind everything. That’s it. That’s the plot. Simple, effective, and not something you need to think too hard about. While there is a deeper story that connects to the deeper lore of Metroid, there’s absolutely no barrier for entry here.

How does it Feel?

All the plot and backstory, however, is mere set-dressing for the real star of the show, the gameplay. Oh, the gameplay. This is the best the Metroid franchise has ever felt, and I will not be accepting any arguments on that. Samus is fast, nimble and moves exactly how you want her to. The timing windows for things like wall-jumps and space-jumps are just wide enough that you never feel under pressure to perform them perfectly but still need some amount of skill to pull off. All of Samus’ old techniques from storm missiles to the morph ball have been dialed in to feel the best they’ve ever felt. There are even some new additions to Samus’ movement arsenal that really modernise the game and bring it into the 21st century proper. Samus can now slide under narrow gaps, perform melee attacks to stun enemies (first seen in Samus Returns, the remake of Metroid 2) and she can now even vault over small ledges. That’s right, you no longer have to jump to get over an ankle-high wall. What a revelation!

This would be the part where I’d usually offer some kind of criticism of an aspect of the gameplay that didn’t really work for me, but I really can’t do that here. This game plays like a dream and I can’t think of a single way to improve it from a control perspective. Maybe change the button mapping for storm-missiles but that’s a minor nit-pick at worst!

How is it Presented?

Old habits die hard, old enemies die even harder

In addition to the gameplay, I think this is the best version of Samus we’ve ever seen from a character and personality perspective. She is fearless, she’s confident and if you ever wondered if someone could show absolute disgust or contempt for something without being able to see their face, take a look at some of the cutscenes in this game because it’s clear that Samus hates some of the villains here. Clearly, Samus has recovered from the character-assassination she suffered in Other M (the game that we don’t talk about).

It’s important to take a break from bounty hunting every now and then

The design of the world and Samus’ suits are top-notch as well. From the clean sterile environments of the Computer labs to the wild, forested areas later in the game there’s a lot of variety here. The Varia and Gravity suits that you acquire throughout the game look excellent as well with fresh designs for the modern era of Metroid.

The game does an excellent job in guiding players as well. If you’re new to the franchise you have no need to worry about getting lost or overwhelmed at any time. The environments will always funnel you towards your next objective or they’ll make it painfully obvious that you need to use the ability you just gained to get yourself out of a sticky situation or room. Don’t listen to what grumpy old men say, this game is as beginner-friendly as it gets.

It can’t all be good, right?

If I had any criticism of the game, I’d say that it opens up a bit too late. In all 2D Metroid games, you’re usually given carte-blanche to explore the different levels to your heart’s content. This is essential for finding health upgrades, extra ammo capacity, and nice little titbits of lore. In Dread, however, it keeps you in an enclosed space almost right up until the very end. While there is a lot of exploration to be done at any time it can be a little frustrating knowing that there’s an upgrade on the other side of the map that you have the necessary upgrade to reach, but you’re being restricted by some other part of the game.

Secondly, it’s possible to earn artwork representing some of the games in the franchise depending on how quickly you finish the game, and on what difficulty. Following one of my playthroughs I set about trying to finish the game on hard mode within 8 hours so I’d unlock the second-highest tier reward (the top is finishing in under 4 hours!). Now I thought I’d unlock everything up to the second-best reward and I could call that a day. Not so. I unlocked the rewards for hard mode, but not the rewards for easy mode. Meaning that if you want everything you have to play the game through in under four hours on normal mode, then again on hard mode. This is a tiny point but it’s one that stuck out to me.

Conclusions

Overall, I cannot recommend Metroid Dread enough. It’s not hard to see why this franchise continues to be the apex of its genre. Whether you’re a long-time fan or a series newbie this is one of the best Switch games out there right now and you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t pick it up. Now if someone could just remake Castlevania Symphony of the Night we’d be set!

Nanoleaf Elements Review: Bring Circadian Rhythm Into Your Home

Marty
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0
Nanoleaf Elements Review: Bring Circadian Rhythm Into Your Home

A few days ago I was listening to a fantastic, older, episode of The Blindboy Podcast. Blindboy was speaking with Dr. Sabina Brennan, a neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. They were discussing all things “brain”, but one thing, in particular, piqued my interest; circadian rhythm. It was of interest not least because a few weeks back Nanoleaf sent over some Elements lights for me to test out. I’ve been living with them for a while now and love the mood they give my gaff.

What Are Nanoleaf Elements?

Nanoleaf is a smart light manufacturer. I met them a few years ago at IFA and have to say they’ve come on leaps and bounds since then, even though they were exciting back then too. Nanoleaf focuses on bringing products to market that no one else does and their uniqueness does shine through. I love my LIFX Beam for example, but there are others on the market like it.

Nanoleaf’s Elements are a twist on the colourful light panels which brought the manufacturer to the fore. Elements are faux-wood panels with a gorgeous grain design making their wood look very convincing. While they look great turned off, they’re in their prime lit up. The pack I was sent came with seven panels and how you organise them is totally up to you.

Close up shot of the Nanoleaf Elements. Maybe the grain should align?

Unlike many similar products on the market, Elements are limited to warmer colours because they only produce white light and an orange hue from the panels natural colour. Personally, I’m loving these colours on cold winter nights, but some may see this as a bit limitation of choice. The atmosphere the lights pump into the room is immense. Since getting the LIFX Beam and the Dyson Lightcycle Morph, I’ve become a little obsessed with lighting not simply being a bulb in the ceiling in the middle of your room.

Controlling The Nanoleaf Elements

I’ve positioned the Elements somewhat out of reach as you can see above. One downside of this is that I can’t make use of the touch controls.

The physical on-board remote for Elements

First, there are controls built into the panels. This will appeal to the many seeking atmosphere without the need for smart connectivity. The panels themselves react to touch too and can even be set to bop along to your music.

As you might very well expect, you can also control Elements from your smartphone or by connecting to your smart assistant. The latter is my primary way of controlling the lights along with them being on a schedule. This finally brings me to talking about circadian rhythm.

How To Fix Your Circadian Rhythm With Nanoleaf Elements

The podcast I opened with spoke about how messed up our natural rhythms are thanks to lockdown and extended periods working from home. Let’s jump in.

What Are Circadian Rhythms?

We are completely hardwired based on our surroundings. What I mean by that is that how we spend out day massively impacts our moods and energy levels. Circadian rhythms follow a 24-hour cycle and are directly linked to how much light or dark we’re exposed to. Ultimately, these rhythms are why we sleep during the dark night and wake during the bright day.

I’m sure you’ve heard that you shouldn’t be using your phone too close to bedtime, right? Well, that’s because the blue light from your screen messes with your natural circadian rhythm and melatonin production leading to poor sleep hygiene and likely a bad nights sleep.

What Can Nanoleaf Elements Do For Your Circadian Rhythms?

In the Nanoleaf app, you can choose from a wide range of lighting scenes and options. You can animate your panels, schedule them and have them react to various different parameters. Another option you have is called “Circadian Lighting”. Once you pop in your location, your Nanoleaf Elements lights will automatically adjust themselves to align with the ideal lighting for your locality. The idea here is that the lights help you light the room you’re in with lightning that can adjust to get you ready for bed.

Just be aware that if you’re going to brush your teeth before bed, the bathroom is really bright and can undo lots of your good clock setting work! Dr. Brennan recommends that you brush early instead of just before bed so you can get your clock back into position, along with no phone before bed either.

I love using light in this manner and I have to say my LIFX Beam is where I notice it most. I have these beside the bed where I’m naturally woken up by an artificial dawn. I’ve noticed that I regularly wake just before my alarm and feel far more energised. So now I have an extra bit of circadian rhythm management in my life thanks to Nanoleaf.

Nanoleaf Elements: The Verdict

Let’s kick off with the price because this is the biggest hurdle you’ll need to overcome while weighing up whether or not to buy the Elements. You can buy the Elements directly from Nanoleaf for €229. For just lights, that’s steep. But if you view these as a feature of your living space it quickly becomes a great value inclusion in your living room. The Nanoleaf Elements are almost like a piece of art, as much as they are lights. Add in the additional benefits of training your circadian rhythms and you might very well start to see that price tag as a great investment.

Long Term Ebike Hire In Dublin With Bleeper Subscriptions

Marty
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0
Long Term Ebike Hire In Dublin With Bleeper Subscriptions

For my sins, I’ve had a few spins in Dublin City centre in my car lately. It’s something I try to avoid like the plague. I see my car as a specific tool for a very specific job and Dublin City centre just isn’t the place for it. I much prefer active travel, particularly cycling, even though I don’t own my own bike. I use Dublin Bikes, Bleeper Bikes and from time to time, Moby Bikes. So I was pretty excited when Bleeper got in touch and offered me access to Bleeper Subscriptions, their long term ebike rental scheme.

What Is Bleeper Subscriptions?

Bleeper Bikes launched in Dublin back in 2017. Despite a rocky launch due to Dublin City Council restrictions, the service has become a popular and widely used method of getting from A to B in the city. Ebikes have, in parallel, grown really popular amongst those opting for active alternatives to public transport. Bleeper spotted an opportunity to create a longer-term bike rental scheme where customers can lease an ebike. This is called Bleeper Subscriptions.

Bleeper Subscriptions start at €28 per week for a folding ebike. I was testing out the Bleeper eCity 1 Subscription which will set you back €35 per week, or €140 per month. This subscription will over you cycling up to 250 kilometres per week, which should be loads for most users. There is one further plan which costs €51 per month for a cargo ebike if you have heavy transport requirements.

The final thing you need to know about is the €100 deposit. You’ll get that back once you look after the bike and return it at the end of your subscription which you can cancel at any time with seven days notices.

What’s It Like Living With An Ebike Lease?

Given I’ve never owned a bike in Dublin City, I wasn’t expecting much from leasing one. I’ve been able to get by just fine using various bike-share schemes. Fortunately, the test came just as I had quite a bit of getting around to do, between going to the office and a few dentist visits. The only oddity in my trips is that they were all quite short hop inner-city trips. Still, the result of having a bike sitting there waiting to be used was me getting very attached to my Bleeper Ebike.

There’s some next-level convenience in having a bike to hand, exactly where it’s expected at all times. No more worrying about a bike being at the dock or walking halfway across the city to find one. I didn’t have to worry about the dock at my destination being full or the area being disallowed for parking.

All of these points I’ve experienced while using bike share systems.

Leasing an ebike comes with a much higher sense of ownership. Now I did have an electric scooter before but that was more of a pain than anything else, mainly because I couldn’t charge in my secure bike lock-up. This is just one of the many features I loved on the Bleeper City eBike, so let’s take a closer look at the bike itself.

Is The Bleeper City eBike A Good Bike?

My first impression to look at Bleeper’s ebike was that it wasn’t anything special. This might actually be a good thing given the level of bike theft in Dublin City. But upon closer inspection, I found so many things I loved with this bike.

The Bike’s Design

I have a soft spot for step-through bike frames. Stopping in traffic is an unfortunate fact of life cycling in Dublin and there’s nothing worse than struggling to get your feet on the ground or when you want to jump off your bike quickly. The first big win for the Bleeper eBike was the general design and the fact it’s a step-through frame.

ebike parked outside cafe with food
Parking up outside Bibi’s Cafe in Dublin 8

Ride Comfort

To be totally honest, I didn’t expect this to be the comfiest bike in the world, but it really was nice to cycle. This was mainly down to fork suspension on the front and a very easy to miss shock absorber under the seat. The curved handlebars give you a really nice cycling position with a great combination of posture and control. Control is a key term here because you want to have loads of that when taking on Dublin traffic.

The shock absorber under the seat makes for a comfy ride

Ebike Features

Right, the important stuff. What makes this an ebike? The front wheel is home to the motor that assists you up to 25kmph. On the rear you’ll find the detachable battery which stores enough power to give you 40km to 100km range, depending on how much assistance you’re using.

The detachable battery is an excellent feature as it means you can charge the bike in your garage, kitchen or workplace depending on which is more convenient. Given my own bike lockup isn’t connected to my home and is powerless, I loved this feature.

The minimal onboard computer system shows the remaining power and assistance level next to power and assistance controls.

I mentioned there that the power usage depends on your chosen assistance level. This is controlled with a minimal onboard computer system with a simple interface.

The motor itself on the bike has plenty of oomph too. When up to full assistance, you’ll feel it giving you a great boost when you need it most. I love having this while navigating junctions in Dublin and being able to get a genuine jump on motor traffic. It helped me feel safer

Safety And Security Features

There are no light controls on the bike. It’s all automatic so when you start cycling and it’s dark enough, you’ll be lit up on both the front and rear. The only other controls you have are the usual three-speed gear shift a bell and brakes for both wheels. One note on the brakes; they are strong which is needed given the extra power the bike delivers. The right is your rear brake and don’t forget that. I pulled the left in an emergency stop and somehow avoided catastrophe! Good brakes are important, but just pay attention to how you’re using them.

Beyond these typical features of the bike covered so far, I want to add a few lines on the locking system. I’ve never used the AXA locking system before but it’s absolutely brilliant. Bleeper eBikes come with a dual locking system. First is the ringlock that goes through the rear wheel spokes. In addition the this, there’s the chain lock. It’s all managed through a central system and you have to leave the chain on the bike so you can’t forget it. When using the bike, you can’t remove the key either. This is a feature, not a bug, that encourages you to lock the bike when not in use.

Is Renting An Ebike In Dublin Worth It?

I’m always super aware of one thing in reviews like this. I’m not paying for it. Normally, that doesn’t bother me very much but on the surface this scheme is expensive. €140 per month is a lot of money and that needs to be considered before I even spend a second weighing up value for money.

But when you do some digging and look at this as a choice between passive and active travel, things start to get interesting. A monthly “rambler” pass on Dublin Bus will set you back €165 and because this is an ebike, it genuinely can replace longer haul commuting. Systems like this are naturally cheaper in cities like Amsterdam, but this is a good start for a very new concept in Dublin. One big advantage is having Bleeper on hand if something goes wrong. If a chain breaks or a tyre goes flat, give Bleeper a shout and they’ll fix you up.

Personally, whether or not I would pay for the service is still up in the air a bit for me and I think that makes sense. I live slap bang in the middle of the city so that’s a big outlay for a small convenience boost. I wouldn’t be getting a Dublin Bus from A to B regardless, and I think that’s what this is all about.

The Switch To Active Travel

Active travel is all about using your own power to get from A to B. I hung up my scooter for active travel in a bid to get fitter and lose some weight. Ebikes let you adopt active travel for longer commutes and that’s who I think this is really for. It’ll do your body and mind a world of good and maybe you’ve already been thinking about it but the prohibitive cost of buying an ebike is putting you off. If that sounds like you, renting an ebike from Bleeper for a few months to see how it feels might be the best place to start.

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