Stanza is pretty much like the Kindle app in that you can buy, store and read books on your iPhone.

I was a tad dubious about this concept of book reading via the iPhone until I trialled it on holiday this year. I downloaded the Twilight series of books and found the app to be very readable. What this did for me was to allow extra space in my suitcase (where the 3 or 4 books would have gone) for presents and Ouzo. Yes I went to Greece.

The great thing about the Stanza app is that you can also get Stanza Desktop which is a small utility program that helps convert books of differing formats into the ePub format that Stanza likes. It also helps in transferring these books to your iPhone.

Another good feature of the app is the ability to click to page flip, to drag one finger down the screen to dim the page, the ability to invert text to be black on white and to resize the font size, which automatically reformats the book.

All in all a really good free app

I’ve heard this rumour from 4 different sources now and it appears we may well be getting a Pizza Express in Market harborough on the site of the old Peacock Pub. What affect will this have on the other restaurants in town? The likes of Ascoughs Bistro will surely feel the pinch and with Gondola Holdings, the owners of the chain already having a foothold in the town with Zizzi’s, surely this will affect the latter’s takings. Will the likes of The White Lion be squeezed even more? The Union Inn is already reported to have closed it’s doors ’till further notice’, how long before more will go to the wall?

I shall watch with eager anticipation.

One such rumour is at http://liberalengland.blogspot.com

Scaffolding work begins on the new Pizza Express

This game, from Clickgamer, is of the Worms ilk of puzzle come destruction games that’s über addictive. The dirty, rotten, thieving piggies have knicked the birds eggs and holed up ‘over the way’ in various buildings and constructions. The overtly mad birds must fling themselves from a catapult, kamikaze stylee, onto the pigs to destroy them.

The simplicity and ease of play of the game makes this very easy to pick and start to enjoy and as I said quite addictive. The levels get progressively harder, but not too hard and new bird types are introduced as one progresses. The cartoon style is cutesy and slick, whilst the physics engine makes the game different virtually every play. This is a must purchase at 59p, ridiculously good, addictive fun.

The design studio that I own and run has recently finished a Wordpress based site for Market Harborough restaurant, Ascoughs.

We wish them all the best in their conquest of Google, the site looks fabulous and is going to help their marketing enormously.

Slap Happy is a must for every iphone owning, Happy Tree Friends fan. The app puts your very own Happy Tree Friend, Cuddles, in your pocket for you to knock about, maim and ultimately kill in a gruesome accident.

The graphics and sick humour are brilliantly realised. Watch your friends faces as, after they’ve said “arrrrhhh cute” upon seeing Cuddles and you slide your finger across the screen and slap him with a big smack sound. Then flip him up to the top of the screen and watch their faces again as he drops with a heavy thud to the floor. Give him a shake and listen to the “oooohh nooooo” from your now disturbed, laughing friends.

I’ll leave the rest of the delights for you to find out for yourself, but needless to say, it gets better.

If you have Sky+ this app is a must, it’ll be the best £1.19 you’ve spent. What it basically does is, after setting up an online sky account, be able to remotely record anything on your Sky+box. So if you forget to record a program you can search for it in the app, hit record and a request is sent to your box to record it. Perfect.

This is definitely one of the best apps I’ve downloaded.

Market Harborough in Leicestershire is now home to a brand new website selling stunning photographic prints. The website is www.PixOf.co.uk and features subjects such as the town of Market Harborough, Foxton Locks and local Market Harborough Churches as well as stunning images of sunsets and the Great British countryside.

All prints are available to purchase so if you’re looking for the perfect Christmas present or wedding present, maybe a beautiful shot of the wedding church, pop along to www.PixOf.co.uk and grab an amazing print.

Whilst on a wonderful camping trip to The Lake District I took these shots round and about The Langdale Valley area.

It appears that a new Gaming Shop is coming to Harborough on St Mary’s Road. ‘Chips’ are currently fitting out the old Trentuno store.

Having done some investigation I found this retail chain www.chipsworld.co.uk which has got quite a few stores throughout the UK, however none in Leicestershire which suggests Harborough would be a good  location. The group tout themselves as ‘The UK’s Largest Independent Video Game Retailer’ which could give Blockbuster a run for their money. Competition is good.

It appears my suspicions are true. The old Trentuno is now a gaming shop called Chips

Here are my HDR exploits whilst visiting the lovely Greek island of Rhodes.