So far, pets ranging from cats and dogs to sheep and horses have been in Venture’s photography studio, while a snake or two has also been known to slither through its doors ready for a portrait photo shoot.

First of all, you need to check in advance that the photo studio you wish to visit can accommodate you and your pet. Venture operates a nationwide network of studios – and even operates in Hong Kong – so there is bound to be a professional photo studio near you.

Once this has been arranged, the fun can begin creating a professional portrait photo of you and your reptilian friend. Upon entering the portrait studio with your snake, one of the first things you will lay eyes upon is the gallery that houses the most inspirational and outstanding portrait photos that have been taken over the years.

With something as different as a snake as a subject, the results of your studio photography experience could soon be hanging on the wall next to some of the past greats.

Everyone who visits one our professional photo studios gets to spend a whole hour with an experienced portrait photographer, who will create a relaxed and informal environment. If you wish, you can even bring props.

You could feature in the portrait photo and have the snake around your neck, or let it take centre stage and allow the talented studio photographer do the rest.

Once you have chosen your favourite portrait photo, you will own a unique contemporary work of art that can take pride of place in your home.

Buying presents & birthday gifts is perhaps one of the most pain in the a*se chores I have in my life. I’d rather do anything else than go shopping for prezzies… don’t get me wrong, I love the giving part of this, but trying to figure out what people would like drives me mad.. & ok, yes I am getting on in years & somewhat less clued up with what’s trendy or not in the gift department…

I think a lot of this stems from my gift receiving experience… i’ve had my fair share of unwanted gimmicky merchandise & tat from poundland

So what do you buy a 14 yr old boy who has everything? Yes i know an iphone would be great.. but cmon.. we are talking serious money..

I would, like most people, just give him the dosh, he’d probably spend it far better than I could… but unfortunately the missus thinks this is a big no no.. “get something educational” (ex teacher) I mumble boring to myself (very quietly.. not that i’m frightened of course lol )

So online I go in search of inspiration… 3 hours later & I come across the gift experience, which from the outside looks like your average run of the mill gift store… however I think i’ve found the perfect gift!

First Drive – the chance to go out & drive a real car! A mini to be exact.. “An Approved Driving Instructor will show you the rudiments of driving and you’ll gain confidence in open spaces and a relaxed atmosphere. This experience is all about helping young (and not so young!) learners to make the most of that crucial first drive”

Can’t wait to see his face… he’s a real petrol head & will love this.. result!oh.. & of course its educational.. which should keep mrs sensible happy

i’ll post a review of the gift experiences next month.

I work on the internet & spend 10/12 hours a day all using a laptop… this is the first time I’ve used a laptop stand.

I can’t believe I’ve never tried or invested in one of these before… it’s a complete revelation…

I can now sit at the desk with the laptop screen at eye level, no more back ache, no more nasty smudges on my laptop keyboard; this really does make my laptop a very comfortable desktop replacement.

Model Reviewed: Kensington Easy Riser Laptop Stand

Price Is £7.40 from Amazon.co.uk

• whats good? it fits in my laptop bag, its well made & very durable, its adjustable, its cheap!
• whats Bad? Absolutely nothing!

After ringing round a few companies, the feedback was less than impressive & in some cases just damn right rude. So off to Google business cards – wow so much choice… rather too much if you ask me.. didn’t realise just how big this industry was.

After half an hour or so looking at various sites.. I landed on moo.com, now I have heard of moo.com before, but for some reason automatically shelved them in the “too expensive for me” category in my head. However I’m glad to say.. the price was very cheap (suspiciously so). I’m always sceptical of deals that look to good to be true!

I selected the pre-designed business cards, there is absolutely loads choose from, with lots of different designs to suit your needs. I went for the Chris Keegan design at £10.99 for 50 cards. I added my text & customised the font & colour to suit my trendy cool tastes.. lol – pressed a couple of buttons, previewed the finished article & was very happy.. just before a clicked enter on the buy now button a quick scout around for a voucher code.. great 20% discount code, applied the code & paid for my cards.

I got an instant email back confirming my order & estimated delivery times. 3 days later, the postman arrived with my shiny new business cards. Well done moo.com, great job!

Review Summary.

• Website = very intuitive, easy to find products & customise. Checkout process very easy & secure
• Product = decent weight on the business cards & the finish was good, quality of images excellent but my text on the reverse could of been better.. but all in all for £10.99 – I really can’t complain.
• Excellent service & great value
• Good selection of pre-made designs or upload your own images if you’re looking for something different on your business cards!

So, we are destined for uk holiday! we stayed at a country lodge in wales a few years ago & everyone loved it.. we were out walking & exploring the lovely countryside in north wales everyday, plus the dog got to come along as well which was a real bonus!

These luxury holiday lodges were out of this world, & really were 5 star stuff.. In fact (as cliche as might sound) we liked it so much, we have made enquiries about buying one. Now I’m not rushing into this thing, & we are still at the lookng stage!

Much cheaper than a 2nd home & eco friendly to boot, the lodges we looked at were absolutely stunning! I think I would give up the rat race tomorrow & live in one of these.

We are still considering locations, the company who build, sell & rent these properties, cover yorkshire , ireland &  wales.

I’d like the lodge to be as eco friendly as possible, it needs to be in the countryside & not overcrowded, the location also needs to be dog friendly as pooch will be a regular resident – anyway, back to work.. put the catalogues down & crack on.. this thing won’t pay for itself..

Review: We took delivery of the much awaited o2 Joggler yesterday. The  joggler is being pitched as the fridge door replacement.. not literally of course.. but typically the fridge door is where a lot of people leave their daily reminders or notes to the rest of the family.. well not in our house, anybody sticks a posti note on our fridge it will probably get eaten!

Anyway the o2 Joggler is supposed to be the ultimate family organiser, you can set reminders, appointments, birthdays etc.. you can share photos, synchronise calendars, listen to music & even look at the latest news & traffic reports.. all sounds great yeah..??

hmm.. not quite, not sure about the rest of you… we have 4 computers in our house.. & i’m pretty sure that’s typical of many households these days.. especially families with kids in college or university.. being connected to the net 24/7 is pretty much a must for most 14/20 year olds. What I mean is.. the technology is already there to do this sort of stuff.. we don’t send each other email reminders or have shared calendars, so are we likely to do it on this…? to be honest, i just can’t see it.. quick reminders will still continue to be left on pieces of scrap paper, tapping 50 words into this 7inch screen is just too much of a bind for our lot.. + the notice board is quite a piece of art in our kitchen.. it would be a shame to see it replaced with a gadget.

The O2 Joggler Advert & Video

Official O2 Joggler Product Brief:

Introducing the O2 Joggler, a touch-screen device designed to help organise family life a little better. Think of it as your new fridge door.

Access the O2 Calendar, or run other family-friendly features on the Joggler to find out if the kids need to take a raincoat to school and if it might be quicker getting the train to work!

O2 Joggler Features

• Photos – store and view photos, videos and MMS
• Music – listen to the radio or play your favourite tracks
• Traffic – get live updates before the school run
• O2 Calendar – Set up and update events and, if you are on O2, you can send text reminders to your chosen O2 phone numbers. You can also access your Joggler calendar online from your computer.
• Photos – View and load your photos from a USB memory stick which can be inserted into the side of your O2 Joggler. Save your favourites and view them as a slide show.
• Music – Stream, store and listen to your favourite tracks on your O2 Joggler.
• Traffic – Live updates from Trafficmaster for UK motorways and A roads, so you’ll spend less time stuck behind a bumper.
• News – Catch up with the latest headlines from Sky News.

O2 Joggler Spec / Specifications

• Audio formats supported = MP3, WAV, WMA (iTunes format files not supported)
• Broadband connection required? = Yes
• Dimensions = 180mm x 130mm x 115mm
• Internet Radio = Available from December 2009
• Messaging application = Available from December 2009
• Power = Uses mains power only
• Size = 7″ touch screen device
• Video capture = MPEG-2, MPEG-4 part 2, MPEG-4 part 10 (H.264), WMV 9, DivX, VC1, FLV
• Weight = 700g

O2 Joggler – What’s in the box

• O2 Joggler
• Power cable
• Router or Ethernet cable
• Cleaning cloth

Just noticed that Google have added the much needed task manager functionality to their calendar application. Unfortunately it’s very basic & doesn’t quite pull it off… which is a real shame. You can add tasks & due dates, but there’s no time option or ability to sync with outlook tasks or other applications.

The Tasks gadget appears on the right side of your calendar, its easy to navigate & add new lists & tasks events. For more information visit google support pages

I’m sure the next wave of Logitech universal remote controls will have bluetooth has standard, however until that day arrives.. this looks like it could be a winner for PS3 driven media hubs.

We both absolutly loved the movie (maybe me more than her). It had everything.. My missus isn’t quite as scifi geeky as me & I was worried that she would hate this.. however the movie really pulled it out of the bag, providing enough for the trekky die hards & more than enough for those who enjoy a decent blockbuster movie… plenty of action, enough comedy, great acting & outstanding effects! yummy.. I want seconds please

The new Star Trek scifi film directed by J. J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and produced by Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk. It is the eleventh Star Trek film from the franchise and features all the main characters from the original Star Trek series, who are portrayed by a new cast. It explores the backstories of James T. Kirk and Spock, before they unite aboard the USS Enterprise to combat Nero, a Romulan from the future who threatens the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek 2009 Trailer

I’d used a universal remote control years ago when the first came out… I’d bought a cheap TV set with no remote control &  used one of those one4all universal remotes which despite its device support limitations worked great on the TV.

Back to the 21st Century & its a whole different ball game, there are universal remotes that pretty much do everything, I looked at a few of the high end models & couldn’t believe the prices they charge for a remote control! So I did a bit of research & came across the Logitech Harmony 555 – its one of many universal remotes that logitech produce & is at the lower end of their range… All i wanted was a remote that I could program & operate all the home entertainment stuff at home.

Well, 6 months in & i haven’t been disapointed.. the universal remote operates our TV, Sky Box, DVD, Xbox, “the whole works”  The remote is programmed via the supplied software & usb cable, the instructions & programming interface is very intuitive & easy to use, with helpful wizards to help you program the universal remote control.

check Amazon deals for harmony 555
check Dixons deals for harmony 555

The Good: Easy to use & program / great support with regular device updates /price/value £59 at the time of writing this review from Amazon

The Bad: not a lot really.. i could be really picky.. but i’m not.. one of the better purchases made in our home

Product Info:

The Logitech Harmony 555 has a LCD display to provide One-Touch access to your TV and home entertainment. With back lit buttons you can even operate your Harmony 555 in the dark, and the ergonomic design fits neatly in your hand. A handy ‘Help’ button on the remote is also a feature, so if assistance really is only one touch away!

Helpful online set-up software and free live customer support means you’ll have the Harmony 555 Advanced Universal Remote working in no time. With an A/V control database that supports over 175,000 devices from more than 5,000 brands, you can be confident that the Logitech Harmony 555 Advanced Universal Remote will be able to operate any of your current or future home entertainment devices.