As Christmas is just around the corner, I am trying to write more light hearted, fun posts, to try to get everyone in the festive spirit.
At the end of every year, JibJab publish their take on the year, in the form of a (usually very funny) video. The video tries to stuff as much news and humour into about two minutes as it possible can.
The 2011 video has just been released, so I thought I would share it around 🙂
You have to watch the video three or four times to see how much they have included, as they really do put so much in!
This year gives mention to the Arab Spring, the collapse of the News of the World, the anti-capitalist protests, the London riots, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Americas loss of its AAA credit rating, Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, Rebecca Black, Justin Bieber, the Royal Wedding, Steve Jobs and so much more!
Here for your enjoyment is JibJab’s 2011 year review, called 2011 Buh-Bye!
%CODEYOUTUBEJIBJAB2011%
Good video isn’t it 🙂
What’s your take on the year? What have JibJab missed out, that probably should have been included?
If you really enjoyed that, head over to the JibJab originals page for more year reviews and fun 🙂
I recently purchased a Kymera Magic Wand. You may be wondering what on earth that is! Basically it is a universal remote control – with a twist.
With a normal universal remote control you just press a button and the channel changed, or you mess with the volume. However with the Kymera Magic Wand you do a magical movement in order to get your device to respond.
My Kymera Magic Wand
It’s one of those things that when you see it you either think to yourself ‘I must have that!’ or ‘what’s the fuss all about?’ I was the former of those two. So after seeing the wand on the show Dragons Den, I rushed out to buy one.
This video of them on Dragons Den really does show off the capabilities of the wand! From about 51 seconds to 1.09 seconds really shows of the wand, the rest is just for interest 🙂
The wand can be used to control almost anything from your simple TV and HiFi to more complicated things like remote controlled garage doors and even remote control lights!
The remote works by learning your existing controls infrared codes, but you do have to program these in for yourself.
Using the wand is a great deal of fun, especially the first time you use it. You can remotely control your TV with a swoosh of your Kymera Magic Wand. If you are a really big fantasy fan, I am sure that you would love this gift, as would those people who love the latest and coolest gadgets – like me 😉
Is The Wand Easy To Use?
The wand can be a little difficult to use at first, however after a bit of practise you get used to it. The Wand Company say
“This wand it not a toy, it is a finely tuned instrument of control.”
showing that if you are looking for some quick fun, this may not be the thing for you, as it can take a while to get used to.
The main problem that I have found with the wand is that it is sometimes too sensitive. Sometimes I will pick it up, change the channel and then place it down again, only for it to bring the guide up onto the screen, as I have placed it down slightly firmer than I should have. This can start to get annoying after time. That and the fact that it doesn’t always respond how you want it to is why I haven’t used it all that much recently.
The Wand Company do provide a useful tutorial on their YouTube channel, however it isn’t really able to help you stop the wands more annoying traits.
Does It Really Feel Magical?
The wand really does look the part, and is a great gadget to show off to all your friends when they come round. It looks like a real magic wand, and is also packaged like one. It also comes with instructions as to how to use your wand, which are printed in such a way to make them look like a scroll.
The Kymera Magic Wand’s scroll like instructions
The design of the wand and the presentation really is fantastic. The packaging really helps make the wand look the part 🙂
The wand really does look the part with its fantastic packaging!
Is The Wand Value For Money?
Well the wand currently retails at just under £50 (around $80) which is pretty pricey, but when you consider the technology inside, also reasonable at the same time. The question is, is it worth it?
My honest answer, no. If they were £20, sure, run out and buy one, however for the price that they are, and the amount you would use it, it really isn’t worth the money. You get a novelty factor when you first use it, and when you introduce someone to it who has never seen it before, however it never really becomes an every day item that you use on a regular basis. If you are a big wizard fan and a techie, you will probably enjoy (and use) it more, but is it worth £50? Make your own judgement.
What is your favourite bit of tech from 2011 that will be making its way onto your Christmas list? That is if you don’t already have it!
This year has been a really busy one for the tech industry, it would seem that every year, the technology industry gains more pace and steams on ahead. For a great example of this look at cloud computing, this is an industry that has been around and major for less than 5 years, yet it is also an industry that has exploded.
Out of this industry, new firms like SugarSync and Rackspace have emerged, proving to be very profitable. In addition to this, existing firms like Google and Amazon have widened their inventory with the likes of the Chromebook and Amazon’s Web Services.
So, back to the topic in hand…
This year has seen the launch of the iPhone 4 and later the iPhone 4S, LG’s and Panasonic’s new HD and 3D TV sets, the iPad 2, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Chromebooks, Nintendo’s 3DS, the 6th generation of the iPod Nano, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the HTC Sensation 4G, and many many more bits of cool tech.
The thing is which is the best? Which tops your Christmas list?
Given the chance I would love to at least try all of the above, but that’s not going to happen for one simple reason: money. The value of all the new bits of tech released this year mentioned above, is probably around the £5,000 mark, meaning that the average Joe is not going to be able to afford them all. This leads me onto another question, which is best value for money?
I have heard a lot of praise for the Kindle, as being very good value for money, whilst a lot of bad PR surrounding the 3D TV’s mentioned.
So, the questions. What’s your favourite, and why? Which do you think best value for money and do you want any for Christmas?
Hopefully next year with a bit of growth, we will be able to have a competition to win some/all of the above! Stick with it 😉
The 2011 video has just been released, so I thought I would share it around 🙂
