Category: 6000 recommends

Bonjourr 21: the background update

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I’ve been using Bonjourr for almost a year and a half now, and it’s just lovely. I’d only been using it for a few weeks when I wrote a post about it and said this:

Sometime we can have nice things. And this is one of them.

And I was absolutely right. Well done, me.

Bonjourr is a really simple way to decorate your browser background – although the customisation options mean that it can be far more powerful if you want it to be – and while it might not seem like a very big thing, it’s just really cool to have images there instead of the same old block of colour. With the latest update – Bonjourr 21: the background update – they’ve added several new features, including the choice of using local files as your background, the option of having a video background to your new browser windows, and new texture overlays to make your screen look even cooler.

Let’s get this straight: this isn’t a massively important or necessary app but it’s free, it’s fun and it just makes things look nicer. And who doesn’t want something nicer on the screen in front of them?

I still haven’t really kicked off anything on Unsplash, as I had planned to do, but there’s some work that I am doing at the moment that might tie in nicely with that, so maybe you will be able to have a raft of my images decorating your desktop in the very near future. In the meantime, there’s plenty of other stuff on there for you to choose.

As browser add-ons go, this has to be right up there as one of the best. Again, not because it enhances the functionality of your software, but just because it’s so customisable and it looks so good.

It’s available for all major browsers – and some others, too.

Sevenns

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Yes. It is spelled like that (for this, anyway).

It’s a new puzzle game that was shared on Reddit, and when people said that they like the format, the author revealed that he’s made an app for it.

Here are the IOS and Android links:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sevenns/id6502391025

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.CommuterGamesLimited.sevennsTheGame&pcampaignid=web_share

The puzzle itself is like a three way Venn diagram, with three ellipses forming seven separate regions. Each ellipse has a clue, and there are seven different two-letter tiles to put into each ellipse to make a word relating to the clues on the ellipses.

Sounds complicated, but it’s not really. Here’s an example:

For this one, the answers are DE CI MA TE, HO MO CI DE & MO DE RA TE.

The DE tile is shared by all three words, so it goes in the middle.
CI is in homoCIde and deCImate, so it goes bottom left. MO is shared by hoMOcide and MOderate, so bottom right, and DE goes top middle because it’s in DEcimate and moDErate.
Fill in the gaps with MA on the left, RA on the right, and HO at the bottom and Robert is your Aunt’s hubby.

You’re a bright sort. You see how it works.

I’d love to show you the finished article, but the app is occasionally a bit buggy and wouldn’t let me take a screenshot.

But it is a lot of fun. Add this to some Geoguessr and a bit of Puzzgrid, and you are sorted for brainteasers for at least a while; maybe even some time.

Duck

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Not a sponsored post. Just some information on a new find.
New to me, at least. And that’s what counts on here.

Superb, delicious, free range and batch cooked “to perfection”, nogal. All the boxes ticked.
These are the duck equivalent of Pork Scratchings.

Duck Scratchings, then. Perfect.

What, as they like to ask, is not to like?
Well actually, the serving suggestions provided by the retailer might fall into that category:

Perfect with salads or as a topping on lasagne.

No. Don’t do this. Don’t trouble yourself with that level of detail. Simply scoff the (reduced because the use by date is approaching) packet on the way home from the supermarket. No green leaves or pasta sheets in sight. Much easier.

They also say:

Once opened, store in an airtight container.

Well, that’s pretty much my body, if you exclude the lungs and the other breathy bits.

And say what you will about the Chinese, with their authoritarian government, harsh restrictions on press freedoms, complete and absolute disregard for the environment, and horrific human rights record: that 5-Spice is an absolute banger. And there’s still so much more room for potential improvement by maybe adding a sixth or seventh spice. I’m shocked that it hasn’t happened already.

Folks, with just 25% of your daily cholesterol per packet and about the same for your sodium, there’s clearly no need to do more than simply devour 4 packets of these, each day. Sorted.

I bumped into my cardiologist at the shopping centre, and showed them to him, and he told me that they’re great for business, so it does really seem like everyone is happy.

Go get some.

Stellenblog

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A day out (sort of – we were home by 3:30pm) in Stellenbosch. And I know I said that I’d share it live, but if it weren’t for the detail above, you might think we were still there, so it’s all good, right?

We started at the Unlock Escape Rooms in the Eikestad Mall, where we played the Oak City Wine Heist game. We’re kinda old hands at escape rooms now, and we were headed out to Stellies because we’ve done all the ones in Cape Town. We finished this one in 47 minutes, but it was a bit disappointing. One of the major components of the room wasn’t working, and despite watching us struggle with it for maybe a quarter of a hour, they only told us that it was broken after we got out and had asked what the relevance of the whole thing was.

So we could have been a lot quicker, and it could have been a lot more fun.

They also could have… you know… mended it. But no.

So fun, but not up to the standards we’re used to. 3 out of 5 stars.

Then off to Hartenberg for some wine and some food. And this was really good.

It’s seriously pricey, but their “super premium” tasting option is worth it just to experience their flagship offerings. Link.

Great service from Sive, and a real privilege to be able to taste some really superb wines, despite the bonkers prices. Their Gravel Hill Syrah is exceptional, but at R1,275 (£55, $69), it’s also way out of reach for most of us. I also enjoyed the The Stork Shiraz (R1,050) and the Bordeaux style (not blend, because no Malbec) The Mackenzie at R875.


And while the wines were unquestionably very special, you could get three or four bottles of very decent stuff for the price of any one of those big boys, so you can make your own call on that.
Because it’s not like their “everyday” wines are in any way poor. Their easy-drinking Cabernet Sauvignon (R335) made for a lovely accompaniment to their delicious cheese and charcuterie grazing platters in the summer heat.

Before we left, we popped down to see their Ankole cattle. Too hot to spend too long with them, but wow, they are incredible: hornz for dayz.

And then – with the Boy Wonder acting as chauffeur – it was back home for a swim and a blog.

The problem with having so very many wine farms on the doorstep is that even when they are really good – which Hartenberg undoubtedly is – it seems wasteful to go back when you could be experiencing something new and untried.

But maybe we need to add this one to our “let’s go back again” list, just because it was a great few hours out.

Admyt hits Canal Walk – save LOADS!

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It’s still one of the finds of recent times for me. It saved my son half an hour of queuing to pay for parking after the football last week. It means I don’t have to worry about whether a place takes cards for parking payments or if I have change or where I put my parking ticket or anything.

It’s live across SA at loads of locations, with more being added on a regular basis. Just like the behemoth mall that is Canal Walk. And because it’s launching there in Black Friday week, they’ve got a double deal on just for you. And you. OK, you as well.

Firstly, save R20 off your first (paid) parking by using my referral code when you sign up:

TRE162273

And then, once Admyt launches at Canal Walk on Thursday 28th, you can have free parking…

…for THREE DAYS there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the promo codes below:

  • Free parking on Fri, 29 November | Promo code: CWBF29
  • Free parking on Sat, 30 November | Promo code: CWBF30
  • Free parking on Sun, 1 December | Promo code: CWBF01

So that’s no ticket to lose, no change to have to find to pay, no queues to brave on the way out when you’re exhausted and just want to go home, and that swanky VIP feeling as you drive to the barrier and it opens to wave you straight through.

The first three are really handy; the last one is still just very cool.

Sign up on the interwebs here (not forgetting that referral code: TRE162273), and then get the app on Apple here, or Google here.