Up next, the walls will probably start bleeding

walls

I think we may have inadvertently relocated to the town of Amity, and purchased a certain haunted house. You know that bit in all good haunted house movies where it goes dark at midday? There’s an ominous bit of music playing in the background, and the light gradually dims, and the characters understandably freak out? That sort of happened to us the other day. View Full Post

Gardening with the kids

Ever since we got our own place 14 years ago now, we’ve been properly into gardening. In our first place it was a case of transforming the concrete and gravel monstrosity into something with plants and greenery but ever since we moved 10 years ago to our current home, and had kids, it’s been more about growing our own food and getting the kids involved in the whole process from planting the seeds to cooking/eating the end results.

About 5 years ago, when our eldest was 4, we gave our garden a huge makeover, moving the shed from the middle of the back fence in to the corner, turning it into a summer house and building some raised beds in front of it for some grow your own fun for the kids.

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Our garden, plenty of space for growing stuff!

Our kids range in age from 4 to 9. The nine year old is pretty competent at most things, even if that has lead to him eating all of my bacon recently, so we entrusted him with digging over the vegetable patch (under supervision) this year. The only perennials we have in there are the raspberry bushes, which are probably the best thing you can grow with/for kids because they’re almost like a weed and require very little help once they’re established, which meant he could give the soil a jolly good turn with the lady fork (not that he’s a lady, but technically a lady fork is quite a bit smaller than a standard one, so it’s more suited to his 9 year old frame).

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What’s To Come for Car Technology In 2026?

Remember the Nintendo Wii or the PlayStation 3? Chances are they seem like a pretty long while ago now, given how many innovations we’ve benefited from since they first came on the market. Yet these games consoles were at the forefront of the technology of 2006, ten years ago.

The new technology that has come on board since 2006 has influenced far more than the video games we play and nowhere is this more evident than in the cars we drive. Bluetooth phone operation, in-built sat-nav systems and parking sensors are all pretty mainstream now and have had a big influence on the in-car experience.

So, what’s next? If we could fast forward another ten years, what might our vehicles look like?

Look to luxury brands

The first thing to note is that the mainstream car technology of tomorrow already exists in the luxury models of today. The Bluetooth, sat-nav and sensors mentioned above all existed a decade ago, just not in the sort of cars that most road users could afford to buy.

If you take a look in these expensive cars today, you’ll see a blurring of the lines between the car dashboard and smartphone or tablet screen. Top end cars now enjoy the benefits of an ‘infotainment’ system, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto operating as the sort of platforms we are used to utilising on our smart devices. Mapping now uses real time traffic information and voice control for calls and apps is improving rapidly.

By 2026 it’s likely that such changes will be embedded in models right across the range of vehicles on the roads.

Driverless is key

The other thing you can already see in the pioneering cars of 2016 is the move towards autonomous driving. The technology available at the moment is only able to ‘assist’ the driver with things such as keeping in lane, braking, cruise control or parking.

It’s likely that this will not just spread throughout the motoring spectrum, but also increase in complexity as the decade wears on, tipping the balance from merely ‘assisting’ to actually taking over some of the driving functions we currently perform.

Digital Trends highlights manufacturers such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz believe that fully autonomous driving will be possible by 2026, while others predict that drivers will only be able to hand over to their car when on highways and will remain ‘hands on’ when travelling along local streets.

Change is constant

The race to perfect driverless technology is hotting up. That means change is likely to be particularly rapid over the next decade, as manufacturers vie for their position at the forefront of the autonomous revolution.

For the motorist it’s likely to be hard to keep up. The sort of features that you think are top of the range in your vehicle today are likely to be old hat fairly quickly. For people who like to stay ahead of the game, this means they are more likely to be shopping on the pages of Lease Car than peering through the windows of their local dealership – with this sort of arrangement allowing drivers to trade in their models for a newer set of wheels that possesses the latest innovations.

Rapid change, then, should be expected between now and 2026. Further developments in dashboard technology and in-car connectivity and the elements of autonomous driving will filter through to us all fairly soon. Brace yourself for the facilities of your current car to feel dated in the near future.

Review: Pete’s Dragon (2016)

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Disney’s new live action Pete’s Dragon movie isn’t a remake as much of a re-imagining of the 1977 original. The first movie came out when I was two, and I remember it from my youth well. Coming from Disney’s “Bronze/modern age”, it was an enjoyable mixture of live action and animation that hasn’t particularly stood the test of time in my opinion. In other words, it was ripe for a remake, and that’s exactly what Disney has done. View Full Post

Bad hair and no bacon

bed head

Today got off to a terrible start with the double whammy of a bad hair morning and no bacon. The no bacon part of it was really disappointing as I awoke to the gentle aroma of bacon wafting up from the kitchen. There are few better ways to wake up than to impromptu bacon (either in a bap or with eggs on a plate) but today was a let down as the boy had been cooking under supervision and decided to put all 5 rashes into a sandwich and eat it himself.

Vertical hair and a consolation bowl of Cheerios was the order of the day then. Not a disaster but so much less than the promise of mere minutes earlier.

I’ve always had terrible bed head, it’s a combination of two things, the way I sleep (on my front, with my head to the side) and the fact that the hair on the right hand side of my head grows funny. There’s a clear line along the side of my head where my hair points sideways. It doesn’t grow either out or down, it grows facing towards the back of my head, flush to my skull. It makes getting a haircut tricky as it takes the hairdresser/barber a few attempts to get any style looks vaguely reasonable as cutting the sides to the same length always makes the right hand side look half an inch shorter than the left. That’s why I’ve used a grand total of three barbers since I graduated from university about 20 years ago.

Still, I’ve now gone on about my hair past the point where I really should have stopped, and if you ever bump in to me in the real world, you won’t have any ability to stop yourself staring at my hair. I’m sorry I’ve driven you to that, entirely my fault!

Review: NETGEAR NIGHTHAWK R8500

I’ve now been using the Netgear Nighthawk R8500 as my main router for two months (thanks Netgear for lending it to me for such a prolonged period), and this time has given me ample opportunity to assess it in different real life working conditions.

The Netgear Nighthawk R8500 usually retails for a rather hefty £399, but it is currently on a limited time special offer price of £299 at Amazon. That sure is a lot of money but if you think about the cost of all the devices you connect to your router, how much you pay for your internet and other subs, does it actually make sense to pay a lot less for something that doesn’t allow you to enjoy your stuff properly? That’s really the question I’m looking to answer for myself, as I look to replace the router function of my Superhub 2 on a more permanent basis.

If you haven’t read it, I wrote a post when I received the R8500 on the value of having something a step up from the usual integrated router than Virgin, BT or Sky build into their cable/ADSL modems. View Full Post

A non smokers view on Vaping

Every time I’m out and about and I see someone vaping, I do a slight double take as half the vaping gear out there looks pretty much identical to Doctor Who’s sonic screwdriver– which sonic screwdriver? Well take your pick there have been plenty in the last 50 odd years, enough to go with the the variety of vaping gear.

My views on vaping though are coloured by three things. Firstly I don’t smoke and never really have. Secondly my parents both spent my childhood puffing away in the manner that only people in the late 70’s and 80’s really could. And thirdly, I’m a parent with kids. View Full Post

Enjoying streaming in glorious 4K

Everybody seems to be jumping on the 4K television bandwagon now that 3D is officially dead and all that. The problem is until after the summer when SKY start their 4K broadcasting, there isn’t exactly a lot of 4K content outside of Amazon and Netflix streaming. Fortunately we’ve got both, hurrah! And goodness me, some of the 4K stuff looks truly magnificent on a Panasonic 4K TV. It even handles the 720P stuff that Now TV shows with decorum but really, it’s all about watching the stuff in 4K. Fortunately we’re lucky enough to be in an area that’s covered by Virgin Media’s cable network, so we get 150Mbps (soon to be upgraded to 200Mbps!), which means that we can all sit in different rooms and happily stream to our hearts content.

What are we watching at the moment though?

Well, all of Netflix’s own content is now made in 4K, so we’ve been working our way through that, two series of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Marco Polo.

On Amazon, it’s been Preacher (“only” HD but the telly handles that pretty well anyway), Transparent and I’ve made a start on Orphan Black.

Daredevil in 4K UHD

The difference is really appreciable, especially if you’ve watched some of the content (like we did with the first season of Daredevil and Kimmy Schmidt) in HD rather than 4K/UHD. You can see every wrinkle on Matt Murdoch’s face, and Kimmy’s knees look like they could do with a bit of a rest.

Since it’s going to be a while until we get either affordable 4K Blu Ray players, or for that matter much content on them, streaming now and broadcast in the near future is definitely the way to go. Once you’ve watched stuff in 4K, it really is difficult to go back, it’s as much of a jump as VHS to DVD or DVD to blu-ray, and it doesn’t cost a fortune any more.

Best ways to build your nest egg

It’s amazing how, even as adults, we subconsciously associate planning for things like pensions and retirement as something to worry about in the future. A problem for old people, if you like. But the sobering reality is that many young adults and those in their 30s in the UK are headed for severe financial problems later in life. In fact, a recent report suggests that in today’s terms, we each need a pension pot in excess of £600,000, but the average 35-year old has saved just £14,000. And even though the state pension comes in handy, it is not a sufficient amount of money to live off in isolation.

True, as parents, our gut instinct is to invest in our children and family as much as possible. But it’s so important to leave a bit behind for your golden years. Otherwise, perversely, you could end up being a drain on the very people you’re trying to help – your children.

Of course, the key is to build your nest egg in the best possible way. Or ways. It turns out there are actually many ways to skin a cat…

Pensions

For those mums who are in work, auto-enrolment into a pension will become a legal requirement for any employer in the next 18 months or so. You as the employee will have the ability to opt out, but really, there are unlikely to be too many occasions where this is a sensible option. That’s because pensions have two significant benefits. Firstly, the employer has to match your contribution up to a set percentage – which essentially amounts to free money. Secondly, your pension contributions are deducted before tax, meaning the taxable amount on your salary is reduced.

There are different types of pension too, but the good news is that a change in regulations last year means that you’ll have access to your pension from the age of 55, and be able to draw the first 25 per cent tax free. Thereafter, you can take an income from the remainder at your marginal rate of tax.

ISAs

The downside to pensions is that they really are sometimes hideously complex to understand. Not so with Cash ISAs though. Like a savings account, you put your money into the account and let the interest do the rest. Of course, these days that doesn’t amount to very much in the way of a return. Added to that, there is no benefit of an employer contribution, nor a tax efficiency on your salary (although you don’t get charged on interest earned).

However, that will become less of a problem when the new Lifetime ISA goes live next year. This new type of account will let you save into it and receive a bonus of 25 per cent for every penny put away – up to a maximum bonus of £1,000. It will be available to those who are 18 years or older (up to the age of 40), and the savings bonus will apply until you turn 50. That means ‘free money’ to the tune of £32,000 could be earned – if you are young enough!

Either way, it’s an attractive option, especially when you consider that withdrawals will be free after you turn 60. Just be careful of withdrawing from your Lifetime ISA early, as charges will apply (unless you are taking the money out for a first-time home, or treatment of a terminal illness).

P2P lending

One option which is growing in popularity is peer-to-peer lending (P2P), which involves lending your savings directly to consumer borrowers via an online platform. Because there is no middleman like a bank, you as a lender can benefit from returns of up to 6 per cent if you’re willing to lend for five years.

There is of course the risk that the borrower doesn’t pay you back, although the platforms typically have pretty robust ways of dealing with risk. Nevertheless, while you probably wouldn’t want to put all your savings into it, P2P lending looks to be a good way to generate a retirement income for yourself at some point, given that you can usually take the repayments from borrowers direct to your bank account each month.

Setting yourself up

It can be a bit daunting to have to learn all the nuances involved, especially if you’re brave enough to look towards the stock market or other forms of investments. But retirement is something that’s worth taking the time to put some careful thought into. We humans are living longer, yet financial support from Government is slowly decreasing. Rather take matters into your own hands, and ensure that you can look forward to your golden years safe in the knowledge that you’re well prepared. It’s the least that you and your partner deserve.

Still on the Vuelio Top 10 Dads List

I must admit I wasn’t going to write this post- as a Brit blowing your own trumpet isn’t something that comes naturally (and then only behind closed doors with the curtains drawn. No wait, not that) but since I’ve seen a few of the others on the list do the same, I thought a quick modest nod at my awesomeness was due.

I’m sitting at number 6 in the Vuelio Top Ten Dad Bloggers.

Vuelio (and more specifically the bits of it that used to be Cision) deal in media relations management software and databases. For bloggers like me, they maintain a database of influencers that brands and PR agencies can access in order to run campaigns. Some of the most exciting stuff I’ve done as a blogger has come via Cision/Vuelio, including the Network of Champions.

Top 10 Vuelio BadgeVuelio do some analysis of their database and regularly (every six to 12 months) update their top tens. I’ve now maintained my position on Vuelio’s Top Ten Dad Bloggers list since it’s inception, which is something I’m proud out. My blog pre-dates the list, so to be on it since it begun tells me I’m still as relevant as I always have been (you can read that in two ways of course!)- times change, people come and go, trends, erm, trend, but I’m still there like that awkward uncle that’s hard to shift at Christmas.

So hurrah for that awkward uncle then!