As a 'normal' smartphone the Defy isn't too bad: the good points more or less cancel out the bad. The camera is ok in bright sunlight, but pretty poor in low light conditions. The phone's not laggy: I've played some quite hardware intensive games on it and it copes well, no problems with frame rates or anything, but there is a problem with storage - it frequently tries to store things on the full SD card instead of in the not at all full internal memory. The touch-screen is ok normally, but just gives up responsiveness if you get it wet - which makes the fact that it's waterproof a bit less useful. Motoblur is ok though not as amazing as Motorola make out. It uses quite an old version of Android which is a shame. The torch is quite bright. The battery life is very good but the slider holding the back of the phone in place does occasionally slip across by itself, which is not so good. The GPS is pretty quick to pick up satellites, but not quite as accurate as it could be.

However, I chose this phone primarily because it's supposed to be tough. I wanted a phone that didn't have to be 'handled with care'. The phone fell once from about hip hight and the screen smashed into a spider's web of cracks.

If you want a sturdy phone, don't buy this one.

'The Joke-amotive' follows the pattern of previous Tim Vine routines. The quick-fire punning is there as before, as is the prop-based humour. However, although there are silly songs there's nothing to match the elegant brilliance of 'Alarm Bells', 'Family Holiday', or 'My Marvellous Metronome'. Flag Hippo returns in the extras, with a twist, but compared to previous routines this one is not quite so polished or so 'rich'. There are fewer rapid and connected pun sequences and there are one or two too many non-joke jokes. The extras are very watchable, particularly the one with Flag Hippo and the Box Song. I like this DVD, it's very funny, and in places it is laugh out loud funny: if you like Tim Vine you are certain to like this, but I think this is not his most amazing offering. "Tim Vine - So I Said To This Bloke" is still the grooviest.

This is a great little radio. The sound quality is good. The battery life is exceptional (if you follow the instructions properly). If you find a really really sunny spot the batteries last even longer. The system for having pre-set stations is very good. Having a single button for an absolute favourite station is a really good idea too. The screen is clear and has a good back-light which makes it easy to see the stations you're scrolling through in the dark. The little recess at the back makes it easy to carry. The aerial both extends and bends which I find very handy, and the buttons have a solid but lovely feel to them (I know that sounds a bit odd, but they really do!). I don't use the FM option that often, but when I do it sounds great too, and the auto-tune button quickly finds the station closest to the frequency selected. The 'aux in' socket means I can even plug my portable cd player in and listen to my music through the radio's speaker. I've grown very fond of Roberts radios, the ones I've had have all been excellent, but this is the best one yet. It is expensive, but definitely worth it.

You will find no astute commentary on the human condition here, no satire, no slapstick, no impressions, no stories of never-ending craziness, no swearing, no innuendo, and no adult humour. On this DVD Tim Vine basically tells pun-based jokes (some using props) and sings silly songs.
Here's an example of the pace of his punning: "I used to go out with an anaesthetist, she was a local girl. She was a real knock-out. We had a lot of good times, in general. If there are any more anaesthetic jokes, I'm not conscious of them. Probably some more out there somewhere in the ether. Anyone got any more, in the same vein?" That's six punchlines in about 50 or 60 words. You get a lot of jokes for your money.
Here's an example of his use of props. He comes on stage with a brain hanging from a fishing rod. "Wondering why I've got a brain on a rod? Cast your mind back. I fished this brain out of a swamp: the Mind Boggles. But there it is: hook line and thinker. By the way (points at brain) that's not real (points at reel) that's reel. People ask me what a brain cell's for, well I got that for thirty quid. (Breaths out heavily on the brain) mind blowing isn't it." Again, six punchlines in about 50 or 60 words. If you don't like one joke, you won't have to wait long the for the next one.
The propped and propless punning is broken up with songs and other things. These interludes are completely daft. I like them. Children seem to like them. But, I can imagine a lot of people just staring at the screen wondering what the hell he's doing. Examples include "pen behind the ear" where he tries to get a pen to land behind his ear, "alarm bells" where he sings about things that should put you on your guard, and "flag hippo" where a hippo points at flags.
The material is new and I thought it was as good as that on his 2004 DVD (Tim Vine - Live) but more polished and in a better venue. Some of the extras are funny: they're certainly better than the extras on his 2004 DVD. Overall, I really like this DVD, but if you don't like the sorts of jokes that can make you groan then don't buy it!

Some music takes you with it to another place. Cohen's music comes to you. Some music paints pictures in your mind. Cohen's music sketches emotions on your soul. Cohen's mastery of language makes his lyrics more musical than his notes.

Incidentally, the quality of the recording is excellent, Cohen is as good as he ever was (if not better), and the musicians he has assembled around him are very talented indeed.

This netbook is very small and very light. The keyboard uses the whole width of the netbook and is about as small as it could be while still allowing you to touch type. The screen is small but it's quite bright and clear. It's about as small as it could be without making web-browsing a chore. Basically, you can't make a netbook much smaller than this without making it a toy or ridiculously expensive.

The operating system is ok, nothing special, just ok. It's a slimmed down version of Debian Linux which means you can't just install any piece of Linux software on it, not even any piece of Debian Linux software. Although it is technically possible to replace parts of the OS it requires some serious technical know-how. The processor is 'MIPS' which, among other things, further limits the software you can use. The software it comes with is enough to carry out most of the tasks you are likely to use this netbook for but not a lot more. The word processor is a lot like Microsoft Word and the spreadsheet feels a lot like MS Excel. The browser is not great - videos and flash files have to be played in separate dedicated programs - and I couldn't get certain Realplayer files to work at all which, for example, prevents me from listening to bbc radio stations online. Multi-tasking is out.

The touchpad is ok, nothing special, just ok. The buttons on either side of the trackpad feel cheap, but they work ok. Battery life is good cosidering the little battery it uses. The charger is like a mobile phone charger, so it's easy to carry around, unlike some of the 'bricks' that come with some other netbooks. I found that the hardware functions listed work fine when I tried them: Wifi works fine (after a bit of tinkering), USB and SD support work fine, web access using an ethernet cable works fine, and adding a usb mouse or keyboard is no problem.

I really like this little netbook but it won't be for everyone. It's not just a compacted version of bigger netbooks; there are things they can do which this netbook simply can't. But if you want a super-light super-small netbook for word processing, spreadsheets, and web browsing, then this might be what you're looking for. If you're looking for flexibility, processing power, decent storage or the ability to install lots of different pieces of software then you should consider netbook offerings from Acer, Asus, Samsung, and HP.

Everything about this album screams that it is a departure from 'Let Go' and 'Under My Skin' and yet, it isn't really. At first brush the opening track - 'Girlfriend' - with its cheerleader-ish feel appears to be unlike anything on the first two albums, but in a way it could be argued that 'Sk8er Boi' on 'Let Go' and 'I Always Get What I Want' on 'Under My Skin' have the same pace, energy, and drive to them. In the same way other tracks which at first appear to be a departure can find their roots in earlier songs. This doesn't make them sound derivative though.

Avril's voice has a certain elusive texture to it which is difficult to pin down. It gives her music a certain reality or genuine-ness which conveys a sense that she is singing about things she has just felt for the first time so that they have force and impact. The sound is filled with feeling but not in a soppy or emotionally namby pamby fashion - rather in such a way as to remind you of how you felt the first time you had a certain experience.

This album is more provocative than the first two. 'Hot' in particular has a sexy feel to it and, of course, having Avril shouting that she wants to be your girlfriend is quite cute too. :) Seriously though, this is a good album with a healthy range of songs all of which have the Avril stamp on them.

This album is filled with strong efforts. To the obvious 'Complicated', 'Sk8er Boi', and 'I'm With You', you could add 'Anything But Ordinary', 'Things I'll Never Say', and 'Mobile', all of which can be listened to over and over without them becoming old.

Avril's voice has a certain elusive texture to it which is difficult to pin down. It gives her music a certain reality or genuine-ness which conveys a sense that she is singing about things she has just felt for the first time so that they have force and impact. The sound is filled with feeling but not in a soppy or emotionally namby pamby fashion - rather in such a way as to remind you of how you felt the first time you had a certain experience.

This isn't a giant of an album, but it isn't trying to be. It conveys something deeply felt in an innocent and friendly way.

There is nothing really exceptional about this book. The characters are reasonably well drawn, the plot sometimes twists and sometimes meanders, and the quality of the writing is reasonably good throughout but isn't anything special. Basically this is a fairly well put together story which is told quite well. This is the kind of book that you will neither love nor loathe. After reading it you will either be moderately satisfied with the way you have spent your time or you will feel a little disappointed.

The plot revolves around Angelika, a reluctant heroine who has spent her life savings on a single item, which is then stolen from her. Angelika finds herself dragged into a war, accompanied by her faithful companion, and following a dangerously unstable commanding officer. The story is fairly engaging - I was never bored by it - and the narrative devices used are competently deployed.

The book is part of a series of stories about Angelika which in turn is part of an extensive literature based in the fictional 'Warhammer' universe. Don't be put off by these two facts: the book can be read independently. In fact, I suspect that the less you know about Warhammer the more likely you are to enjoy the book.

The HP Deskjet 3920 is a perfectly adequate basic home printer. It prints reasonably quickly on the draft quality setting which is fine for the text documents I generally print out. High quality settings are not startling but they're ok, fine for most of the colour printing I do. Perhaps not really up to printing photos on a regular basis, but fine for the odd one. The cartridges don't have much ink in them so it's definitely worth buying a refil kit. The only snag is that, like so many printers today, it doesn't have a working 'stop' button, so don't hit 'print' 'til you're sure!