Dork Adore

Free Link from Zelda crochet and knit pattern

Katie Lee — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:49 +0000

This is a very simple crochet (or knit!) retro, pixellated Link (and the Triforce!) pattern from Nintendo’s Zelda game. It was made with love by your editor and is now available for you to download and hack to your heart’s content.

This is the first attempt, so I hope to see many improvements on the original design!

Download free Jolly Roger Crochet/Knit pattern (incl brilliantly photoshopped graph).

Simply make rows of Double Crochet (US Single Crochet), turning at each end to work forwards and backwards. Each square represents one DC (US sc).

Materials

2.5mm crochet hook (MM)
Mercerised cotton, using two strands of cotton for each for extra thickness.

NB. You can use any yarn and any hook size you want to achieve your preferred look and feel!

How to make Link crochet patch

– Chain 31 to begin. DC (US sc) into second chain on hook and continue along. You should have 30 stitches in each row.

– Chain one to turn – this counts as your first DC (US sc). If you find this confusing, use a stitch marker.

– Carry the colour not being used across or through the back of the mat. However, remember to check which side you are on at the time or you’ll end up with wool at the front! Don’t worry about this too much, however, the messiness adds to the final gothic look.

NB. The pattern is slightly different to the photo – I’ve added an extra space between Link and the Triforce, and shifted it all over to make the yellow edging on the right more prominent.

To finish:
For the edging, I just did a row of double crochet (US sc) and then a row of trebles (US dc) with chain spaces in between. With three trebles (and spaces) in the corners. Finishing with a row of double crochet (US sc) with a stitch in each treble and each space.

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Episodes – Dork Review

Nick Bryan — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:54:53 +0000

Ever wondered what Matt LeBlanc’s been doing since Friends ended and the Joey spin-off barely even started? Well, not much, until the BBC and Showtime launched Episodes last year, one of these trendy Hollywood-based comedies where LeBlanc plays a version of himself.

It’s now back for a second season, so since it’s graduated beyond one-year wonder, this seems like a good time to ask – should we be watching it?

Matt LeBlanc: Having An Episode

The start of Episodes, as many have said elsewhere, was not that good. Slow, poorly budgeted and, worst of all, unfunny, the set-up period seemed to drag on for an eternity.

The story being set up was as follows: husband-and-wife TV writers, played by reliable British comedy talent Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, try to take their successful UK sitcom across the pond, only to be hampered by shallow US TV exec stereotypes who force unwelcome changes upon them, including casting Matt LeBlanc in the lead.

And, happily, once the series got going, the three main actors settled into a strange co-dependent triangle and developed chemistry. From then on, it at least had charm, helped by LeBlanc playing “himself” as shallow yet surprisingly lovable and charismatic.

The DVDilemma

The start of the second season, even better, seems to have kept the progress going. Yes, it’s still as pleasant-if-not-great as it was before. Admittedly, if you really want to be up on what the hell is going on, you’d kinda need to go back and watch the entire first season, and some of that is quite bad.

So it’s a strange mixed review for Episodes. If you’re willing to dive in and wing it, the new season is a fun enough way to pass the time. But if you can’t get past the nerdish need to have seen the whole story in order (and yes, that’s a problem for me too), then… either have a stiff drink and attack the DVD set, or just go watch a superior celebrity self-deprecation sitcom like Curb Your Enthusiasm.

If you do want to leap right in, the first episode of series two is on iPlayer right now, and it continues on Fridays at 10PM on BBC Two.

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Felicia Day and Colin Ferguson crochet and talk nerd!

Katie Lee — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:18:13 +0000

Ah, Felicia, Felicia, Felicia! How do we love thee? Etc

As we all know, Fe-Day is supreme in all respects, which is why it will come as no surprise that she can crochet and say amusing things all at the same time.

Colin Ferguson also goes from novice to crocheting ninja in the space of about five minutes, the crafty devil.

Here’s a video to pleasure your eyeballs.

Via The Flog

[Felicia mentions Console to Closet and The Punchline is Machismo in the vid, which are great]

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Devolo HomePlug: How to create a home internet network through your power sockets

Katie Lee — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:08 +0000

Much better than a plug-in air freshener

The Devolo dLAN 500 AVmini may have a really boring name (did you even get this far into the sentence? Have a cookie!) but it’s such a clever little thing that you’ll be able to forgive it.

The problem:

Our HomeHub is on the top floor of our house (it was the only working phone socket when we moved in and so that’s the one the BT man used). Our Sky+ box is on the ground floor (the Sky man cursed the BT man and ran a phone line down the outside of our house and into our loving room).

How do we connect the HomeHub to the Sky+ to get Sky Anytime+ without having to run a giant ethernet cable down the outside of our house?

The answer:

The Devolo dLAN 500 AVmini (£94.11 on Amazon)

This power line networking starter kit comes with two HomePlug AV adapters. You take them out of the box, plug in the ethernet cables, plug them into a power socket, and plug them into the device you want to network.

That’s it!

I plugged the other end of the ethernet into the HomeHub and the Sky+ box, restarted the Sky+, and started browsing Anytime+.

The simplicity of it all has made me a bit power-crazed. I can now network up the printer, the games consoles, the hard drive – and anything else that’s got an ethernet port.

If you want to get really carried away, you can install the software supplied and configure your setup to control who has priority on data speeds. So if you work from home, you can give your Skype connection priority over someone streaming HDTV in the living room.

Product not sexy? Try adding a lady's face!

More info about the HomePlug

Suited to all types of bandwidth-intensive transmission. The HomePlug can transmit multiple HDTV streams, including 3D movies, with speeds of up to 500 Mbps.

It has powersave mode when not in use, dropping the plug to 0.5W when in standby.

Full specs for Devolo’s HomePlugs

The downside is the price. There are cheaper options out there – although the slim design, faster connection speeds and ease-of-use make it a tempting prospect nonetheless.

Devolo dLAN 500 AVmini Start Kit – £89.99 from Currys

Devolo dLAN 500 AVmini Start Kit – £89.99 from PC World

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Free! Jolly Roger Skull and Crossbone crochet and knitting pattern

Katie Lee — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:28:11 +0000

A skull! Because we love you!

Your loving editor aims to please, which is why she (or “I” if you prefer the first person) made this pirate ship pattern for free.

It’s a very simple crochet (or knit!) skull and crossbones pirate flag pattern!

You can download the pattern here, or keep reading for the full info.

Download the free jolly roger crochet pattern.

Simply do rows of Double Crochet (US Single Crochet), turning at each end to work forwards and backwards. Each square represents one DC (US sc).

Materials

2.5mm crochet hook (MM)
Black and Red Mercerised cotton, using two strands of cotton for each for extra thickness.

NB. You can use any yarn and any hook size you want to achieve your preferred look and feel!

How to make the Jolly Roger pattern

– Chain 27 to begin. DC (US sc) into second chain on hook and continue along. You should have 26 stitches in each row.

– Chain one to turn – this counts as your first DC (US sc). If you find this confusing, use a stitch marker.

– The pattern is slightly different to the mat in the photo – I thought the design needed a bit more bone on the bottom left side, and I also made the pattern square (not sure why I didn’t think of that when I was making it!)

To finish:
– Do a row of double crochet (US single crochet) in your chosen bone colour to finish it off. Do two dc (US sc) into each corner to turn.

– To add the extra long stitches, simply pull the yarn through a row or two rows below. Do this randomly through as and when required for full gothic effect!

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Ten signs you’re addicted to social media

Emma Cossey — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:17:30 +0000

Did you know you can go to rehab for internet addiction?

It’s such a huge part of our lives that it’s easy for casual browsing and casual social media use to turn into a serious compulsion.

We’re now a nation of people who have to share everything – from our latest relationship updates to what we’ve had for dinner.

Think you might love social media a little too much? Here are ten signs:

The first thing you do when you wake up, and the last thing you do at night, is check your Facebook and Twitter pages.
Your family and friends don’t recognise you without a phone or iPad hovering over your face.
Your Klout score is now more important to you then your IQ.
You use ‘lol’ in regular conversation. Out loud. Instead of laughing.
You no longer believe anything has happened unless you see Twitpic evidence…
…and normal photos bore you unless they’ve been put through a series of retro filters on Instagram
You consider yourself friends with Stephen Fry, after that one time he replied to you.
You tweet your children to tell them dinner is ready.
You created a Twitter account for your two-year-old-child. And your cat. They have more followers then you do.
You’ve checked your Facebook and Twitter accounts at least five times since reading this article.

Game of Thrones S2 E7 review: Man without Honour

Katie Lee — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:01:39 +0000

Rubbish cell-mate

This week, the Kingslayer committed murder without soiling his charisma and Jon Snow looked thoroughly perplexed.

You know it’s all going to be OK when things kick off with a nice long scene between Charles Dance and Maisie Williams. The two of them are a sight for sore eyes, acting their way through a brilliant script. Tywin Lannister is strangely likeable for the head of a ruthless family, which is why I was glad Arya didn’t stab him in the back with a steak knife.

In fact, the Lannisters were all on fine form this week. While Robb Stark made noble noises at his mud-stained field medic, Jaime (remember him?! He used to be in this show) was wallowing in his own excrement and murdering one of his biggest fans.

Like his father, Jaime somehow manages to stay likeable whilst merrily committing acts of atrocity. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t try to pretend he’s anything other than a ruthless warrior. And the twinkle in Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s eye helps too.

His sister has struggled to find that same level of charm, but this week she grew on me a little. She told poor old Sansa about the love of a mother before confessing to Tyrion that King Joffrey really is a little shit. Even Tyrion felt moved enough to almost give her a pat. It was a lovely moment when the siblings both realised that neither of them were quite ready for that. If Tyrion and Cersei kiss and makeup it will be no fun for us – watching them bicker is a treat.

Jon Snow: confused

Two of my least favourite storylines continued with Jon over in Wildling country being goaded by the saucy maid from Downton Abbey. It was less tiresome than last week, however, with the free woman, Ygritte, making some really quite salient points, leaving poor old Jon looking even more surly and confused than usual. Poor ickle diddums. This is turning into something of a gap year for Jon, with the Wall offering an opportunity for him to find himself (and his penis).

Dany over in Qarth is having no such voyage of self-discovery. All she seems to do is lurch from one disaster to the next, shouting on about being queen before slumping into self-doubt and whimpering about the latest crop of corpses she’s responsible for.

Her host Xaro has really outdone himself, shafting the beggar queen whilst shanking the bulk of the 13. Again, this plot thread normally grates, but there were some lovely, creepy moments this week, with the masked Quaith showing she knows a lot about faithful Jorah’s previous treachery.

Alfie Allen done a bad murder

Theon’s having less fun than he imagined as the new ruler of Winterfell. After battering one of his subordinates for pointing out the truth, he found himself face-to-face with some real-life tar babies. His cruel glee soon turned sour at the sight of two dead orphans. I almost felt sorry for him, but the murdered children kept swinging into view.

So what next? Will Littlefinger bless us with his continued absence? Will spymaster Varys get another scene again soon (please)? And where will Hodder, Osha and the little Starks run to?

Game of Thrones, Sky Atlantic Mondays 9pm.

Tell us what you thought! Is Dany annoying you too? Do you feel sorry for Theon?

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Five great social media apps for your Mac

Emma Cossey — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:08 +0000

Got an Apple Mac and want to find the best social media tools? Here are five of my favourites:

Lifestream £0.69

If you’re most concerned with looking at what others are saying, Lifestream is a great app. It’s a multi-network tool, so you can login to all your accounts and see who’s saying what on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all the usual suspects. The problem with this app is that you can’t actually update or reply on it (although on certain accounts, like Facebook, you can leave comments on posts and photos.

Socialite £6.99

Socialite will not only alert you when someone has posted in your chosen social networks, but also from your RSS feed. You can time when you want updates, which can be handy if you like to keep them to every 30 minutes to avoid distraction. The main downside is that it’ll then fill your screen with alerts, which can be irritating.

Tweetdeck Free

A more familiar name for those who use Windows, Tweetdeck works in much the same on the Mac, with multi-account capabilities, scheduling functions and multiple streams. It’s still one of the best social media apps out there.

Social Pro Free

Do you usually like to have tabs open for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and your email? Social Pro does that for you, providing you with an app that can sit nicely on the left or right hand side of your window. It shows your accounts as they would look in a normal browser, so you can use them as usual.

I still favour web-based tools Hootsuite and Alternion above most of these, but it’s nice to see some alternatives. That said, it seems that Apple has created more social media tools – and better quality ones – for the iPad and iPhone then it has for the Mac.

Antenatal Online review: online classes for time-strapped parents-to-be

Dork Adore — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:25:41 +0000

Virtual birthing classes for busy people

In a perfect world every pregnant woman would be on maternity leave from about 30 weeks, with lots of disposable income and a partner who works a short commute away.

But I’m pretty sure that’s not the case for many of us, making antenatal classes another awkward and potentially expensive thing to add to the list of “Things We’re Supposed To Do Before The Baby Arrives”.

We were given two options:

Take the hospital-run classes (2 x three-hour sessions inconveniently timed smack bang in the middle of the day, and only one choice of location)
Privately arrange NCT classes (these can be at slightly more convenient times but are a big ol’ chunk of change at a time when money is tight).

These were my motivators when hitting Google deciding there must be a better way to learn about birthing babies via the internet.

And there is.

Antenatal online takes the entire experience of antenatal classes, turns them into a series of online videos with optional 1-2-1 phone access to a midwife, and provides them for a modest subscription fee.

Sounds perfect for the cash-conscious time-poor parent-to-be right?

Prenatal ‘how-to’ videos

We were given access to the Class 1 ‘Active Birth’ videos (£55), which are “11 videos covering all aspects of labour and birth including the mechanics of giving birth, relaxation and pain relief options.”

They were brilliant. I suppose most people would just watch them on a laptop but we faffed about with an iPad HDMI converter to stream them through the telly because we’re just fancy that way.

The format is about 90% of a midwife talking to camera, with some first-hand anecdotes from parents and handy graphics: a great balance.

The detail was incredible and the tone was perfect, covering absolutely every aspect of birth and (the more controversial one) pain relief options factually and in a balanced way.

The advice is absolutely bang up to date with current NHS approaches to midwifery and labour.

How do virtual, online birthing classes compare to real classes?

After completing the antenatal classes online I was convinced I didn’t need any more info. But in the interest of reviewing properly, I extracted myself from the office to attend the NHS hospital classes to compare.

While the in-person classes were good (they seem to be, ahem, “inspired” by presentation content from other sites like www.babycentre.co.uk) with an extremely knowledgeable midwife who was able to answer any question on the fly, we probably learned more overall through the antenatal online videos.

We also had the chance to go back and watch the videos again for anything we missed.

While some people may want the interaction of sitting with and meeting other people at an in-person class, I personally prefer independent learning at home with just myself and my partner. The class was a mixed bag of people I wouldn’t necessarily hang with – and we were moving out of the area anyway.

For those who are worried that they still might have questions after watching the course online there is an option to purchase a 30-minute telephone consultation with a midwife for only £30.

What antenatal online could improve

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m stunned at the lack of written information provided around the labour and birth bit. In what is probably going to be a stressful, intense and exhausting moment of our lives, my partner and I will have to rely on memory to recall stuff like “three contractions, in a 10-minute period, lasting for a period of 60-90 seconds” before we’re supposed to call the hospital and tell them we’re on our way.

And I can’t even remember what stage of labour that would put us in. Or what comes next.

Antenatal online used lovely graphics throughout the videos to bookmark stages of labour and what would be happening at each phase. I automatically assumed they would be available as resources on the site to print out. They weren’t – and it seemed like an obvious value-add which should be there.

They would also double as marketing collateral (I’m pretty sure any pregnant woman who saw those graphics would quickly be lured away from the poorly done NHS PowerPoint presentations).

Summary of the service

My partner and I would recommend antenatal online to anyone who could afford the subscription. If you can’t maybe you could ask for one of the packages as a gift. They are a private option outside of what you get for free from the NHS but significantly less cost (and from some feedback I’ve heard, less biased) than attending NCT classes.

The level of detail and the presentation style has left me feeling as relaxed and prepared as I think anyone could be around something so mind-blowingly epic as what I’m about to put my body through. And even someone as cost-conscious as me can’t put a value on that.

Antenatal online Class 1 ‘Active Birth’ videos (£55)

Video Skive: Video killed the karaoke delusion

Helen Brown — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:34:35 +0000

Your must-see footage of the week includes:

The Texas karaoke bar who encourage you to film your emotional rendering of The Ting Tings and then play it on a local TV station.

Jon Hamm becomes agony uncle for Rookie Mag’s teen girl readers. Achieves previously unseen levels of unfeasible attractiveness.

A pug sings the theme tune to the Batman TV series.

Tina Fey gets between two ferns with Zach Galifianakis.
Hot, live, foster kittens are waiting for you on the kittencam livestream.

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Dork Adore

Free Link from Zelda crochet and knit pattern

Materials

How to make Link crochet patch

More stories like this

Episodes – Dork Review

Matt LeBlanc: Having An Episode

The DVDilemma

More stories like this

Felicia Day and Colin Ferguson crochet and talk nerd!

More stories like this

Devolo HomePlug: How to create a home internet network through your power sockets

More info about the HomePlug

More stories like this

Free! Jolly Roger Skull and Crossbone crochet and knitting pattern

Materials

How to make the Jolly Roger pattern

More stories like this

Ten signs you’re addicted to social media

Game of Thrones S2 E7 review: Man without Honour

Jon Snow: confused

Alfie Allen done a bad murder

More stories like this

Five great social media apps for your Mac

Antenatal Online review: online classes for time-strapped parents-to-be

Prenatal ‘how-to’ videos

How do virtual, online birthing classes compare to real classes?

What antenatal online could improve

Summary of the service

Video Skive: Video killed the karaoke delusion

Your must-see footage of the week includes:

More stories like this