Category: Personal

Zavvi Zbox Welcome Box – Unboxing

So here we go another unboxing video! I’m enjoying doing these but this one is slightly different, this is Zavvi’s Zbox.

This box is slightly different as their deal was 3 boxes for £20. The three boxes are a Marvel Mystery Box, a Welcome Box and one of the monthly subscription boxes. This is a review is for the Welcome Box, which you can see below.

Zavvi Zbox Discount Code

I talk about in the review that I paid £15 for all 3 boxes.  This is achievable through Quidco, a service that offers cashback for various retailers. Right now they’re offering £5 cashback per subscription box service. You get paid slightly later but it’s well worth getting.

Is The Zavvi Zbox Welcome Box Worth It?

Overall, this box is probably not worth the £20 if you wish to paid for it, the mug is quite nice and the Lego is a welcome gift but the calendar is an absolutely terrible item for the box. It seems like it’s just a waste. However for 3 boxes for £20 deal (or £15 if you buy via Quidco), you do get some nice items.

Own Part of the Box!

From the box, I’ve put the following things on eBay:-

What Do You Think?

If you have purchased this box, let me know your thoughts? Did you get something different? Was the calendar as useless as I found it? Please let me know in the comments!

If you enjoyed this video, please check out my other Unboxing Videos or Subscribe to YouTube so you can see more.

Why #ilovewp

So an interesting post appeared on Matt Mullenweg’s blog recently describing how they will change up the Testimonials Page by having blog posts under the #ilovewp hashtag. As somebody with some measure of standing in the community (other people’s words, honest!), I’d thought I’d put out a blog post.

Now I could talk about the boring stuff, the fact that it found me a career that I love, and I’m paid pretty well to build things in WordPress all day, but I feel that could be repeating people.

Screen Shot 2016-01-24 at 13.05.21
What WordPress looked like when I started using it in 2006.

I could talk about the good that the project does in democratising publishing and giving people a voice. However there are people far more qualified to do that.

Instead I’ll talk (rather selfishly) in the non-career impact it has had on my life, as it has been a cornerstone in helping pursue my passions.

None more so that one of my main blogs – Retro Garden.

I’m a big classic gamer, most of the time on my Twitch Channel I’m playing some obscure game from the mid 90’s, so when I thought about starting a blog that focussed on one of my interests, that seems the most obvious to start with.

Through Retro Garden, I ended up networking with a few people and companies. I ended up getting a lot of free games to review (which was nice), but one such chat with somebody who is now a really good friend ended up changing my life forever.

This chap shared a love for professional wrestling that I did. Though unlike me he also was at the time an active wrestler. He was starting a promotion (which evolved into Britannia Wrestling), and needed a site. In return, I’d be given free entry to shows.

Of course, I accepted, and built the site in WordPress. Furthermore, over time, I went from being a face in the crowd, to helping out backstage, to being a referee, to being a manager and occasional wrestler.

558116_10151048197627438_896981414_n
Me refereeing a match between Bubblegum & Kris Travis – two of the best wrestlers in the UK in the last 10 years.

I did knock it on the head after 5 years as work and other commitments made it difficult to continue, but I’ve so many happy times and experiences from those 5 years that it was worth all the early starts and late finishes. So much so that one of my other sites I write because I’m keen to try and get behind the curtain again. And that site is built on WordPress.

I’m not saying that WordPress is singularly responsible to all the above, but it makes it so easy to achieve so much. And that is why #ilovewp.

New Year, New Theme

Hello! Well it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Hope you’re well! Welcome to my brand new personal blog!

Why have I started blogging here again? Well, one of my goals for 2016 was to Produce More Content. I hate using the phrase “Produce More Content”, as it seems very robotic. However, I don’t feel like ‘Write More’ would work here, as I plan on doing a few videos, maybe even some live streaming. In the last few months of 2015, I’ve been playing about with Twitch streaming (follow me on Twitch here), and I kind of want a hub for all my non-WordPress activities. So this is what this blog is about.

The realisation came to the latter end of last year. There were a few things I wanted to talk about or cover, but unfortunately I’d been unable to due to it not really fitting within Winwar Media’s remit. This relaunching means that I can give my thoughts here, rather than elsewhere.

About This Theme

Well, since the last post on this here blog (in September 2014!), I’ve been curious regarding the rise of Medium. I like the long form content and I know that the future sister-in-law is a huge fan of it (you can follow her on Medium as @GapYearComeback), but I particularly like the clean look. So I wanted something that was a little cleaner than my last layout.

However, I was also keen to use it as a hub for me. I wanted links to all my other things and as well as writing it as a brain dump. As such, I wanted a brand new look, that focusses on the content, but also will act as a site that is a hub for all my activities online.

Two themes did inspire me – the first was Matt Watson’s theme. I did quite like the clean look of it and the focus on the content, but I also quite like Caspar Hübinger’s theme, as it had the sidebar and footer incidentals which I really wanted in the new theme. So I had a half look that I was after, now was to decide whether the one column or the two column theme would win out.

Learning Javascript Deep…ish

In the end, neither did, as I decided to amalgamate the two.

Rather than spend a lot of time working a theme, I instead decided to take the Twenty Thirteen theme, and extend it. In Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word this year one of the most quoteable phrases was “Learn JavaScript…Deeply”. I then decided to make the sidebar retractable in JavaScript. I am in no doubt that it has already been done, but I wanted to do it.

If you are reading this on a desktop, click the arrow to retract the sidebar. It should work.

After playing around with it for a few hours, I think I got something to work. There is an odd problem that it flickers when closed. I think it is because of a conflict with the theme’s default JavaScript, so if anybody’s has any ideas, let me know (and I’m well aware this is a bit of Open Source Cunningham’s Law, sue me!).

Also, to those who remember the old theme, would know that I’ve returned to a purple sidebar. It’s quite simple that. I like Purple ?.

The Host With The Most

I’ve also switched hosts! Previously I had hosted this on my bog standard Digital Ocean VPS. Whilst I think I’ve fixed the issue regarding the VPS (or rather, more likely, hacked it), I’ve switched to 34SP. I am a big fan of their Managed WordPress Hosting as it is quick and painless (as I don’t have to worry about anything), and their support is top notch. So yeah, this site will be nippy, and suffer a lot less down time.

What Should You Expect?

In short, you should expect the odd post here and there. Rather than writing to a set schedule, I’m hopefully going to try and produce opinion pieces and reviews (as well as general updates), that are longer, and richer including videos and the like. Hopefully the new theme will act as a catalyst for it.

What do you think?

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

So I was nominated by Pete Handley of theMediaFlow (as well as my childhood friend Steve Prior) to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. As this blog is starved of content, I’ve decided to upload it here!

I’m not donating to ALS, but rather donating to the Callum Murray Fund. Callum is a brave lad who has been at many British Wrestling shows over the last few years, and I’ve been honoured to meet him after shows. Callum suffers from Arnold Chiari Malformation, we are a fundraising page designed to help get Callum to the USA for treatment. If nothing else from this video, please consider liking and supporting that page. Thank you.

I’ve nominated my FireCask boss Anna Moss, my brother and my mate Dave from back home. 24 hours!

P.S. Yes I am well aware that my shorts say “66” on it. As a proud Welshman I found these lying around and didn’t mind ruining them ;).

Le Tour In Yorkshire – Day 2 (York/Huddersfield/Sheffield)

So a small thing that I’m not exactly proud of – I cannot ride a bike.

I mean, I probably can. However I’ve never really been on one. I preferred scooters and video games growing up. However, one thing I really enjoy is Le Tour De France.

I think it is because when I was growing up Le Tour was always background TV on holidays. We’d be in a caravan, after a long day being out and about, and it’d be the last programme we watched before going to bed. So when they announced that Le Tour in Yorkshire was happening (La Grande Depart was taking part in Yorkshire), I made sure that I was going.

At least that was the plan. Unfortunately, the plans I originally had did fall through, and a night at the excellent Chorlton Beer Festival meant that I wasn’t sure if I would make it, but instead miss it. But the next day, hungover, I decided to suck it up and head to Huddersfield to watch the tour. To be spotted, I made sure I dressed suitably.

http://instagram.com/p/qGqUe0l5Mp/

I was quite surprised how easy it was to get there. A lot was said on preparing early and getting there early. However I was surprised at how empty the trains and trams were. I wasn’t convinced it was actually happening. However, when arrived in Huddersfield, it was obvious there was something huge going on.

I headed to watch the tour and found a space next to a barrier at the bottom of a hill on the outskirts of Huddersfield. And then I played the waiting game. I was 3 hours early, and the carnival was due to arrive in 2 hours. So I chatted to a few people. And waited. It wasn’t a waste as about half 2 the first for the riders flew past.

That was followed 3 minutes later by the main field, which whizzed so fast past us it was borderline scary. But wonderful. (NSFW language in the video, but in all honesty if you work at a company that doesn’t allow you to view a video which includes the word “Shit” in it, then change jobs).

So all in all, it was a great day out. It was long, and there’s a bit of waiting, but it was something worth seeing. The crowds were amazing all weekend, so they did themselves credit. Same time next year boys and girls? 🙂

Did you go? What did you make of it? I thought it was superb!