Xmas Cards.

So the time has come once again! The 12^th month has rolled around, bringing with it mince pies, tinsel and of course, Christmas cards! We all know, deep down, that we want to give out the best cards to our friends and family. Those store-bought ones just aren’t going to cut it are they? So what to do?! Well, making your own cards is a lot of effort isn’t it? Isn’t it?

No!

No, making your own cards isn’t a hassle, you can do it while the wine is mulling or while the pudding is being steamed! But how? Well, all you need is a few apps…

Fresh Paint

Fresh Paint is brilliant if you want to give your cards a real personal touch. Similar to paint, the program we all know and love, Fresh Paint has a lot of extra options which make it even easier to design the perfect card. It’s free as well, so you have nothing to complain about! You can also grab Fresh Paint for free on Windows Phone, so you can create masterpieces wherever you are.

Above: The Fresh Paint homepage.

So how do we go about making these perfect cards? Well, if you’re in a rush, never fear! Fresh Paint comes with a load of Christmas themed designs, which you can easily turn into a brilliant card. Just have a look below:

Above: So much festivity!

You can use these as a template to make a card, which makes things a lot easier! So I think I’ll take the one with the sleigh and see what I can do…

Above: With this many options, I've got to be able to create something good!

The Fresh Paint app isn’t just for professionals, anyone can use it to create fantastic pieces of art. It’s got some set-up scenarios to help you create brilliant oil paintings or pencil sketches. If you’re struggling to find inspiration, you can use Bing’s “inspire me” setting to search the internet for visual stimulation! So everybody, of every skill level is catered for.

Above: My masterpiece of Santa's
sleigh, without the
template.

With the template.

So it really is that easy to create a Christmas card worthy of sending to all your mates. But, if you have decided that you’d rather put it up on the wall instead of in an envelope, you can print it to canvas straight from the app. Suddenly, a personalised Christmas gift for all your friends is a lot easier! Now, if only I'd posted this sooner, you might have had a chance to post them. Ah well, there's always next year!

Custard Creams

If there's one true way to my heart, it's with custard creams. Yes, custard creams. Little rectangular biscuits from heaven. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside with a vanilla burst. They are a fancy biscuit in the lowest price range, but this just makes them all the more appealing. So, my love/addiction to custard creams meant that, recently, eating them just wasn't enough. I had to find a recipe and master the art of the custard cream.

Where To Find A Recipe?

I had a look online and I found a suitable version very quickly. However I was worried that if I decided to make this recipe again, the website may not exist anymore! This would mean that what could potentially be the best custard cream recipe in the world would be gone! So I decided to store it. But where? I could have written it down or printed it off. That would take time and effort, then I would inevitably lose it somewhere. I had to store it somewhere I could easily find it and easily use it. A mystery...

Enter The Bing Food App!

Yes, Bing (the search engine, I know) have a food app! It sits very nicely on my start screen and tempts me with different pictures of exotic cuisine from time to time. Open this up and you're greeted by more pictures of food! You can expect to be very hungry when you close the app.

Thankfully for me, the Bing Food app has the ability to add recipes. You can see the option for it on the main menu, between "Collections" and "Shopping List". Open that up and adding in your favourite recipe is easy. If you are copying a recipe from a website, like me, make sure you add the source of the recipe in!

Step 1: Open the "Add Recipe" page.

Step 2: Add recipe. Simple, really.

Step 3: Admire your work!

Shopping List

Now that's done, I just need to get the ingredients. I need to make sure I get the right ingredients however, so I need to use a shopping list. Lo and behold, a shopping list function is included in the app! Just click "Add to Shopping List" at the bottom, select the items you need and they will be waiting for you in your shopping list. The list can be accessed from the main menu.

This can then be shared to Microsoft's OneNote program, which means you can then get it on any Windows Phone with OneNote.

Above: Sharing to OneNote from my laptop.
Right: The shopping list on my Windows Phone.

The Final Result

So I've managed to get all my ingredients now thanks to OneNote and I decided to make one, giant custard cream! Yes, you read that correctly. A giant one. Following the instructions on the food app allowed me to transform this:

The boring ingredients. Not much on their own, really.

into this:

Voila! A giant custard cream!

Yes, it's a giant custard cream! You'll have to excuse the lack of decoration, I was in such a hurry to try and eat the thing. And yes, it was delicious, perhaps even more so due to the time saved using the Bing Food App and OneNote. Or maybe it was the high amounts of sugar. I'll let you decide.

Now you've read about how Windows 8 can help you make extremely sugary treats, tell me what you think of it here!

Busey in the SkyDrive with Rylands.

Hello again, yes, I know the name is a tad strange. Hell, it had to be to get you to come! But now you are here, I wanted to talk to you about a thing called SkyDrive. If you are like me and have the memory of a stereotypical goldfish, then this SkyDrive thingy is a lifesaver. Come, let me indulge you in it's secrets...

What is it?

The easiest and most effective way to think of SkyDrive is as a memory stick that is always with you. Upload something onto it at home and it will be waiting for you when you get to uni/work/Mars. That may sound odd, a bit sinister even, but it is incredibly useful. Follow me in this scenario and I will show you its power...

A Strange Scenario

Imagine you are being chased by Gary Busey. Imagine it. Struggling? Let me help you.

RARGHHHHH!

Not struggling anymore, I bet. Anyway, you are being chased by Gary Busey through the streets of, lets say, Manchester (funny that). You are running, he is chasing you, you can't get away. Your only hope is to print off a file that has important information about his weaknesses, from a computer. You manage to make it to the John Ryland's library and success! You've found a computer, with a printer attached! Plus, you've got just enough time to print off this file and find out how to defeat the menacing Busey! Huzzah!

But wait.

Where's your memory stick? Oh no. He's getting closer and you've forgotten your memory stick. No hope of defeating him now! Busey wins! This could have been avoided, by one of two ways.

Two Ways.

1. Don't piss off Gary Busey (words to live by, in my opinion).

2. Use SkyDrive.

Assuming you've already pissed off Busey, then you need SkyDrive. It works on cloud computing, so when you upload a file onto the SkyDrive, you are effectively saving it to this "cloud". The great thing about this is that when you go somewhere else, you can easily access it. All you need to do is log on to your Outlook account and click on the arrow at the top. This will bring down the option for SkyDrive. 

Top left is where you will find the mystical button.

Ta-da! SkyDrive is on the right hand side!

When there, you can upload files easily at the touch of a button.

Everybody gets 7GB free, which is the size of pretty good USB stick. You can also download it as a desktop app (works on Mac, I checked) if you wish from the link I shared earlier, or you can just as easily use it from your browser. Sharing files and stuff is very easy as well, so you can share Gary Busey's weaknesses with everybody! However, I don't want you to complete destroy Busey, so I'll save that for another day.

Replay

Gary Busey is coming after you etc, but this time you have loaded your precious files onto SkyDrive! Hey presto, you download and print off his weaknesses and you easily defeat him. He is banished back to wherever he came from! Which would be America, I guess.

Take that Busey!

You celebrate with a glass of your favourite beverage, safe in the knowledge that wherever you go, you'll always be one step ahead of Gary Busey. You're living the dream my friend.

Now you've read about the wonders of SkyDrive, tell me what you think about Windows here!

80's Tunes.

Yes, I sit here in my kitchen. All my housemates are giving me an odd look. No, I'm not naked. It's because I'm using the speakers to blare out my current favourite 80's tunes. Yes, I even have a playlist on Xbox Music. It's called James' 80's (ish) playlist. I enjoy the music from that era, it speaks to me (it doesn't really, I just like it).

Back In Time- Huey Lewis and the News

Ah, Huey Lewis and the News. Famed for "Hip to be Square" for "The Power of Love", but this is the one that I love. Written for the brilliant film "Back To The Future", the whole song is all about time travel, it's even in the name! Cracking music, a nice bit of saxophone here and there, it's perfect to get yourself pumped up. Don't want to be pumped up? Don't listen to this:

So good.

Don't You (Forget About Me)- Simple Minds

"I can't wait until I'm old enough to feel ways about stuff", I believe this is what Philip J Fry said when hiding a four-leaf clover in the sleeve of "The Breakfast Club" soundtrack. My favourite thing about "The Breakfast Club" isn't the sexual tension between the Vernon and Bender, no it's this song. I'm not even sure what it is about this song, but it has me hooked right up to the final "la" at the end. Have a listen, you'll see what I mean.

So heartfelt.

Down Under- Men At Work

This song is so bizarre. I have listened to it so many times, I still have no idea what it is truly going on about. Sure, I could look it up on the Wikipedia app on my laptop, but that just wouldn't feel right. If you think I'm crazy, let me ask you a question. What other song uses the words "Vegemite", "Chunder" and "Muscles" in the same song? I'm not sure, so get back to me on that. While you look it up, the rest of us will be having a listen: 

So bizarre.

You Can Call Me Al- Paul Simon

I'm always listening to this. I can never escape it. It will always hold memories of nights out and trips around Europe with friends. But that's just me. For everyone else, you probably know it as "that song". How foolish you all are! This song is pure 80's gold. You can't deny that, any doubts of it are destroyed when you realise that Chevy Chase, an icon of the 80's, is in the video. I could go on for years (and I probably will) about how good this song is. Just listen and trust me. 

So magical.

So those are just 4 of my favourite songs from the 80's. Unsurprisingly, I have so many more. As I said, I've got a playlist on Xbox Music dedicated to it. I'll be listening to the playlist I made on the computer through my phone when on the bus. That is pure devotion right there.

Now you've had a laugh at how Xbox Music helps me indulge in 80s music, tell me what you think here!

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