Category Archives: Reviews

Jasmine m1 Turntable Cartridge Delivers The Goods

November 4, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

In 1992 I visited Kowloon , Hong Kong and discovered a multitude of audiophile shops nestled into the nooks and crannies of the tech sector. My task at the time was to look for Laserdiscs and to purchase a fiber optic audio cable for said Laserdisc player. This task was accomplished in short order- there was so much to choose from unlike the scarcity of said items back home.

What surprised me was the number of China based brands and especially the fact that I was not familiar with any of them.

Today most North American consumer electronics are made in China or ‘overseas’ but 30 years ago this was not always the norm. Any stigma that may have existed has been eroded because quality has improved considerably and prices have dropped too- making very good quality audio equipment affordable for more consumers than ever before. And that’s a good thing.

Jasmine

茉莉花Jasmine®” is a hardware service provider specializing in the design and development of vinyl systems. It owns core technology of vinyl systems and provides a global, top HiFi turntable brand with R&D services for their entire product line of cartridges, tonearms, phono stages, turntables, etc.,

Jasmine has served well-known brands in more than 40 countries including the United States, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom, repeatedly reported by international authoritative media including the American authoritative audio magazine Positive-Feedback.Their mission is to cultivate and spread vinyl culture. Part of their plan is to succeed in this endeavor by offering quality turntable cartridges at affordable prices and so excitedly we got our hands on their new 24$ USD/ 32.69$ (at time of posting) CAD Jasmine M1 cartridge that surprisingly comes fitted with gold plated lead connectors.

Packaged carefully and arriving safely and quickly, our review cartridge made great first impressions. The box which holds the cartridge is no nonsense, attractive, easy to open and safely holds its contents including mounting nuts and washers. We wish more manufacturers would take this K.I.S.S. approach.

Impressions

The M1 is a very handsome moving magnet cartridge with a style similar to the Ortofon line of MM’s fondly remembered from the 1980’s and often found on West German Dual turntables of that era.

The elongated ‘pencil’ layout of the cartridge and stylus offers benefits of light weight, low 2.5 gram tracking force and ease of mounting to most headshells.

Because of the style throwback we decided to mount the M1 on a suitably vintage (though freshly serviced and calibrated) Dual turntable and dig out our favorite LP’s used for evaluating cartridges. In our experience the best judgment of equipment updates is to use our ears and a familiar record.

Budget cartridges have vastly improved over the past few decades. The M1 can be found online for as low as 30$ CAD

Though technical specifications and measurements are important (see below) it is quite illuminating to discover how changing your cartridge and stylus can affect what you are able to hear. For example, we found the M1 brought out more detail in the bottle percussion on Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough (Off The Wall original issue LP). We have always been able to hear them but this is the first time we were able to hear how LONG they play throughout the track.

The conical shaped stylus is to be expected at this price point but for those with well kept vinyl you will be very pleased with its superb tracking and quiet noise floor.

Bass response was also very solid. In our test room, we have dual Mono PSB Alpha subwoofers crossed over at 80HZ and our main speakers are Magnepan SMMG panels. Using Thomas Dolby’s The Flat Earth LP we were impressed with the solid yet warm bass response both on tracks featuring electronic synthesized bass (The Flat Earth original issue LP) and electric bass guitar (Dissidents).

The Jasmine competes against a number of affordable, yet decently performing cartridges- including the Audio Technica AT-3600L but to our ears and based on the manufacturer’s specifications, the Jasmine is the better choice. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Gaming

Are Gaming Reviews Always Reliable? Keep These 4 Things In Mind

October 17, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Much like movies, gaming as an industry has grown to be a robust machine churning out titles, both big and small, at an obliterative pace. Suffice it to say that it is impossible to try and play all games that release every year. Moreover, considering that the price of games has been on the rise for the past few years, partly due to increased production cost and partly due to inflation, it is impossible to purchase and play all games.

So, in order to not get blown away in the confusing hype created by reviewers, here’s what you should keep in mind about gaming reviews.

1. The problem of big titles:

The issue with game reviewers is that they mostly expend time and effort praising AAA titles that release every year instead of lesser known artistic or Indie games. Not everyone likes major titles with repetitive gameplay. You would rarely see any famous gamers play with Online casino, Karamba, an indie mobile game, or let’s say the games that aren’t don’t get into enough limelight. We’re talking about the games that are niche and aren’t very popular in the industry of gaming reviewers.

Play Karamba on any mobile device with upto50GBP|Karamba Casino

2. Appeals vary widely:

The issue with gaming in general is that it is almost impossible to please everyone. In terms of narratives and themes, games tend to include only a limited number in their arsenal. However, with time, the expectation from games increases. It isn’t rare for reviewers to expect deeper political or social commentary from games, after the success of titles like Detroit Become Human.

However, it is impossible for games, like Assassin’s Creed that seek to be historically accurate to both portray the times while tending to demands of politically correctness. Two distinct possibilities arise here: Either the game sticks to its roots, and builds a good gaming but gets scathing reviews for not doing enough or for being problematic. Or, it can fit political pandering in its theme and make itself a terrible game, but get hearty praise from reviewers. An example for this is Assassins Creed: Odyssey, for which Ubisoft got rid of all its Assassins’ roots and made it a messy poor quality RPG, that looks like a poorly made copy of Witcher 3.

3. Mismatch between target audience and reviewers:

A big issue where the premise of reviews falls flat is that hardcore gamers usually do not fit the target audience of reviews. Gamers can be broadly classified into hardcore or serious gamers and causal gamers. And while most games are made with the former in mind, game reviews are made keeping the latter in mind. That’s because game reviews too, are a market that needs to pander to an audience to sell itself. While most reviewers are knowledgeable and competent enough to make detailed reviews, most of their audience wouldn’t consume such reviews.

Face-Off: Batman: Arkham Knight • Eurogamer.net — Batman: Arkham Knight

As sad as it is, most casual gamers just want to play a first person shooter for fun. They do not care about social commentary, or beautifully written characters or aptly composed music scores. When reviews are written keeping them in mind, blissfully average games like Call of Duty keep getting very high reviews. And while playing CoD is definitely fun, it fails to hold its own against impressive games like Witcher 3 or Batman: Arkham Knight.

4. The issue with influence:

A second issue with gaming reviews being a business is that these sites depend on developers for content for their channels. Reviewers that bring out reviews earlier obviously stand to gain since there is a flux of readers to their channels about the exciting new title, which earns them a lot of money. This in turn means review sites depend on developers to send them early and free copies of games for them to try out, and review. For every bad review they give, they turn off the developer from dealing with them in future, which in turn makes competing review channels benefit.

This creates a dangerous nexus between gaming review channels and developers. This in fact harms smaller developers more since they effectively make lesser games than bigger developers. Thus, an Electronics Arts, can utilize this nexus for their benefit much better than a CD: Projekt Red, although the latter is arguably a much better developer. And this means, very average EA games will get much better reviews than a fantastic game developed by CD:PR.

In Conclusion

However, as we know, making video games are one of the most elevated forms of contemporary human art. And art, by virtue of interpretation, is extremely subjective.

Thus, in an effort to pick and choose games that are worth our time and money, we obviously tend to look at gaming reviews. Not only do they offer a valuable insight into what each title is about, but they also explain important details like the brilliance of narratives, character development, gameplay mechanics, multiplayer experience, presence of inhibitive micro transactions, and tend to give an overall suggestion on whether or not they recommend the game.

Therefore, it is foolhardy to expect reviews to do a perfect job in terms of recommending games that you may like. For the Silo, Ritik Pandey.

Reviews

Pitfalls Of Moving To Another Country To Save Money

September 29, 2022 The Silo 1 Comment

After job losses and the mortgage meltdown of 2008, Karin Esterhammer, her husband, and their 8-year-old (autistic) son fled Los Angeles to start over in an unlikely place: a nine-foot-wide back-alley in one of Ho Chi Minh City’s poorest districts, where neighbors unabashedly started into windows, generously shared their barbecued rat, kept cockroaches for luck, and ultimately helped Karin and her family find joy without their Western trappings.

Who hasn’t daydreamed about chucking it all and living simply in a hut with a hammock on a beach? Such a move can be a brilliant way to cut expenses and flip your life’s switch to adventure mode.

Around six of every 10 North Americans didn’t have an emergency savings account when the 2008 recession hit, with a new recession looming today we need to be aware of the risks.

Karin was one of them. “I don’t know why I thought selling nearly everything we owned and moving to Vietnam would be the easiest way to get back all I’d lost. Call it desperation. I was laid off from an industry becoming more obsolete by the day — newspapers. My husband’s home business was also tanking, and with debts that equaled what seemed like the GDP of a small country, we didn’t have the capacity for clear thinking and careful planning.”

So, in 2008, Karin and her family moved to Ho Chi Minh City to get jobs teaching English. In a country where a great meal was $1usd, a motorbike taxi ride was 50 cents, and cable TV plus telephone was $6usd a month, they had lofty expectations of saving bundles of money and returning home in a year. What they didn’t account for was high rent. The least-expensive place they could find was $400usd a month for a nine-foot-wide house on a crowded alley with no hot water, but plenty of roosters and rats. They took it.

In her reflective book- So Happiness to Meet You, Karin shares what her family learned while living in Vietnam and learning to appreciate having less and needing less.

In the great tradition of Bill Bryson and J. Maarten Troost, So Happiness to Meet You is a captivating travel memoir that’s as rich in heart as it is in vivid, hilarious observations about Karin’s life in one of the world’s most fascinating places. For the Silo, Trina Kaye.

Karin Esterhammer’s work has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, and more. Her diary-style article in the LA Times about Vietnam earned more letters to the editor than almost any other travel story. After their years in Vietnam, Karin and her family are again living in LA.

Prospect Park Books 16$usd contact: marketingdirector@thesilo.ca for ordering information.

Reviews

Purifiers Combat the Dangers of Methane and Additives found in Natural Gas

September 26, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Natural gas is an important fuel used for heating and cooling in more than half of all North American homes. But methane, the key component in natural gas, is highly explosive and can become deadly when uncontrolled. Back in 2014, a natural gas explosion in two apartment buildings in New York killed eight people and injured 70 others.

In addition to the risk of explosion, the smell of natural gas can make many people ill. Hundreds of residents of Porter Ranch, near Los Angeles, were recently sickened by a natural gas leak from a nearby underground storage facility a mile away. The cause of their headaches, nausea and nosebleeds was mercaptan, the chemical added to natural gas that smells like rotten eggs.

What is natural gas?

Natural gas is composed primarily (95% or more) of methane, a colorless, odorless, non-toxic flammable gas. Methane is emitted from natural sources such as wetlands and also from industrial and agricultural processes.

Because methane is odorless, an additive known as mercaptan, or methanethiol, is added to natural gas to make the presence of methane detectable. Mercaptan additives contain sulfur, which is the reason natural gas smells like rotten eggs. Exposure to mercaptan can result in a variety of adverse health effects, including irritation of the eyes, skin and respiratory tract. Natural gas can also contain small amounts of potentially harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as ethane, propane, butane and even toxic compounds such as benzene and toluene.

Methane cannot be filtered. Mercaptan and VOCs can. Unfortunately, methane is not just dangerous – it’s also unfilterable. Adsorption and chemisorption, the two processes by which gas and odor air filters remove chemicals from the air, are ineffective against methane, which has an extremely low molecular weight. As a result, the only effective strategies for reducing indoor methane levels are source control/reduction and increased ventilation.

Mercaptan and VOCs, however, can be efficiently filtered with a high-performance air filtration system with a combination of high quality activated carbon and potassium permanganate – such as the IQAir HealthPro Plus or GC MultiGas (at right) room air purifier. The activated carbon provides adsorption of VOCs, and the potassium permanganate provides excellent chemisorption of mercaptan and many other VOCs, such as formaldehyde. The combination of these two filtration media is ideal.

The IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier- made in Switzerland

Importance of monitoring methane levels.

Because methane is so highly explosive, high-performance air filtration to remove the odors associated with natural gas (mercaptan) is not recommended unless sufficient monitoring with a methane detector has determined that levels are safe. Methane detectors, also known as explosive gas detectors, can be purchased at hardware and home-supply stores.

This article is brought to you by The IQAir Group, friends of the Silo who develop innovative air quality solutions for indoor environments around the globe. IQAir is the exclusive educational partner of the American Lung Association for the air purifier industry.

Reviews

ODDBALL CINEMA: CONVOY

September 1, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Errrr breaker one. This here’s the Rubber Duck.

CONVOY (1978): Maybe because I knew that director Sam Peckinpah was pretty much reaching new depths of being an irresponsible drug-addled drunk during production, that I figured maybe it would show in this movie, and maybe that’s why I’ve avoided it for so long.

I mean, it’s one thing to have that kind of thing seep into your films about violent assholes defeated-by/defiant-at life, but it seems like something that would fuck up what should otherwise be a fun movie about truckers outrunning the law — based on a fuckin’ hit novelty song, of all things.

And yet, that’s not really the case here. It is a fun movie about truckers outrunning the law, with just the right amount of Peckinpah’s cynical boozy edge to make this stand-out from other similar joints playing at the drive-in around this time. Occasionally, I’d be surprised as I felt the edge poke me, and it was pretty sharp too, with its attitudes towards The Law and the dangers of being Black in America.

But they were welcome surprises.

Of the truckers, Franklyn Ajaye’s “Spider Mike” gets the worst of it from Johnny Pig, on account of his dark skin; Ajaye, by the way, is known mostly as a comedian, and he’s one of those dudes who I’m sure is living well, but I feel should be/should’ve been much bigger. I’m guessing he’s one of those “comedian’s comedian” types, in that he’s super-respected in his field, if not necessarily recognized by the general public.

I’m sure once he’s dead, he’ll become The Most Popular Comedian In The World on social media and everybody and their mother is going to go on about how great he was, the way everybody and their mother suddenly made Mr. Paul Mooney the most popular comedian in the world on social media after he died.

Kris Kristofferson’s “Rubber Duck” is very much a Peckinpah kind of protagonist, with his own code of conduct that might not make sense to others, but allows him to enter his house justified. He also goes shirtless for what seems like half the running time, which made me imagine if Matthew McConaughey ever considered starring in a remake somewhere along the way.

I don’t believe in heroes, but I suppose if I had to pick one, Mr. Kristofferson wouldn’t be a bad one to emulate: Rhodes Scholar, boxer, Army Ranger. He flew helicopters, swept floors, worked on an oil rig, and wrote some of the greatest goddamn songs in the history of music. He was also “Whistler” in the BLADE movies.

Ernest Borgnine plays such a bastard in this one, “Dirty Lyle” is his name, and he’s an oinker of the worst kind: A corrupt cop who shakes down the truckers unlucky enough to drive down his highway.

In real life, Borgnine revealed in an interview that his secret to long life was that he masturbated a lot; later, he said in another interview that he said that because the interviewer wouldn’t let up with that question, and he figured that answer would shut the dude up. In reality, he said, his long life was probably the result of becoming a vegetarian 35 years prior. Now that’s just disgusting and uncalled for, Ernie, you dirty old man.

Anyway, this was good times, man. I think this movie, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, and a six-pack of Coors will cure whatever ails ya.

It’s just so 70s in the best of ways, that old-school vibe with dudes talking to each other on the CB, taking showers together in their underwear. Maybe that’s why Ali MacGraw had short hair in this, to mix in easier with the rest of the dudes. #backyardmovienight For the Silo, E.F. Contentment.

Gaming

Esports Betting Data Levels Up Via Artificial Intelligence

July 13, 2022 The Silo 1 Comment

AMSTERDAM — HUDstats, the pioneering esports data analytics company, has partnered with the leading multi-channel supplier of 24/7 live betting services, Sports Information Services (SIS) to deliver actionable, real-time data for esports betting purposes.

“We’re looking forward to working with SIS and providing esports fans and esports betting aficionados with engaging and fascinating data and statistics for their favourite streams,” said Andrei Bălănescu, CEO of HUDstats.

As part of the partnership, HUDstats will use its proprietary Advanced Video Analysis (AVA) technology to collect, standardize and distribute accurate esports data from SIS Ebasketball and Esoccer streams for the creation of real-time esports betting products.

“Our technology stack allows us to provide a great number of accurate match data points in real-time, at a sub-second speed,” said Bălănescu. “Our partners, SIS, can use them to create engaging on-screen graphics and betting commentary that increase performance for their customers.”

Live AI stats from Counter Strike provide bettors informed choices when wagering on this popular esports game.

Conleth Byrne, Product Director at SIS added, “HUDstats provides a ground-breaking and easy-to-integrate solution that enables us to scale our 24/7 Competitive Gaming content with automated and accurate in-play event tracking.”

Tracking Multiple In-Game Events for Ebasketball and Esoccer

The HUDstats – SIS partnership currently involves tracking more than 20 major in-game events for Esoccer and 40 in-game events for Ebasketball.

For example, in Esoccer, HUDstats covers data points from events such as ball location, free kicks, goal kicks, throw-ins, substitutions, added time, offsides, goals, corners, and more. For Ebasketball, HUDstats can track free throws, 2-pointers, 3-pointers, timeouts, fouls, the team in possession, and others.

“HUDstats showcases all the noteworthy aspects of the match and even more in-depth features, such as what side a corner is taken from or if a free-kick is from a dangerous position,” said Bălănescu. “That’s a feat otherwise impossible to obtain in real-time by manual input.”

Highly-Scalable, Reliable, Sub-Second, Fast Data Collection

HUDstats covers a full range of esports titles such as EA FIFA, NBA2k, EA NHL, EA NFL Madden, as well as the big three: League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Its proprietary technology generates data directly from the esports stream or game server and can collect over 1,000 data points for every single minute of a game.

HUDstats is able to scale its data-collection solution to numerous streams at a time, analysing hundreds of angles and allowing esports bettors to experience a new dimension of esports.

About SIS (Sports Information Services)

SIS (Sports Information Services) has been at the forefront of live pictures and data delivery to the global betting industry for over 35 years with a rich heritage in creating and distributing betting events for horse and greyhound racing, as well as esports and live numbers draws.

SIS is the leading supplier of high-quality 24/7 live betting services, delivering a range of 24/7 channels to retail and online operators globally 365 days a year. To complement their horse and greyhound racing, they provide a flexible SIS Trading Services offer, which now includes a fully outsourced managed trading service.

In addition to racing, they also offer over 150,000 highly competitive esports events a year, all underpinned with robust integrity, and provide over 300,000 Live Numbers draws annually.

SIS partners with over 400 operators in more than 50 countries, offering rights holder partners the opportunity to showcase their first-class content across six continents.

Supplemental-

How to bet on CSGO Counterstrike: Global Offensive

How AVA is used with sensors to mine consumer behaviors and patterns. by Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian.

Reviews

The Sentient AI Future is Here And She’s A Lovely Stranger Named Frankie

July 1, 2022 The Silo 1 Comment

Bringing work home can put stress stress on a marriage, especially when that “work” is a beautiful woman who seems too cozy with the husband. But in Bruce Deitrick Price’s genre-busting tragicomedy book “Frankie”, looks are deceiving.

Raymond Mason, an AI genius and college professor, brings Frankie, his latest, most human-like creation, to dinner. Raymond knows his wife will be impressed.

No way! Julia Mason feels competitive and threatened.
Raymond touches Frankie in a romantic way.

Julia is hostile and drinks too much. She passes out as Professor
Mason runs upstairs to find a gun. An hour later, Julia wakes to find
her husband dead and Frankie gone. Julia, semi-hysterical, races into
the night to find the missing masterpiece.

Simon, a grad school drug dealer, falls in love with Frankie. He
realizes he can build a cult around this spiritually evolved woman.
First, he has to hide her.

For different reasons, many people search frantically for Frankie.
Meanwhile, more unexplained deaths are reported. Panic sweeps New Jersey. Some experts think that humanity is dealing with
an alien invasion.

A pathologist says he has never seen so many beautiful corpses. Cause of death: unknown.

“Elon Musk believes that AI will destroy us.

First there will be lots of misunderstandings, confusion, and paranoia,” Price says. “Frankie is a look into the future of AI. The smarter the robots, the more likely that strange, unanticipated things will happen.”

About the Author

Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, poet, artist and education
reformer. He wrote his first article about robots around 1990.

Featured image: Historic “Mona Lisa of the Pacific Islands” photograph Mestiza de Sangley, c. 1875

Reviews

Three Thousand Dollar Cartridge Reveals All That Vinyl Records Offer

June 23, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Audio-Technica Introduces Its ART Series AT-ART20 High-End Phono Cartridge

STOW, OH, June, 2022 — Audio-Technica recently reached out to The Silo and announced the introduction of its AT-ART20 Dual Moving Coil Stereo Cartridge, the latest in A-T’s ART Series of high-end phono cartridges. The AT-ART20 utilizes Audio-Technica’s magnetic-core design to achieve extraordinary musical realism. Complementing its superlative vinyl playback performance, the AT-ART20 has a striking, distinctive contoured appearance.

“Our goal in creating the new AT-ART20 was to capture the full expressiveness of the original recording,” said Bob Peet, Audio-Technica Global Product Manager – Analog Products. “

To that end, the AT-ART20 embodies technologies and know-how that are the result of our 60 years of experience in phono cartridge design and manufacturing.”

The AT-ART20 (SRP: US$2,900 / CAD$3,760) delivers expansive, detailed sound with unmatched imaging and dynamics. The AT-ART20 utilizes the advanced manufacturing and polishing techniques that have been developed in the eyeglass industry of Sabae City in Japan’s Fukui Prefecture. The cartridge’s body features graceful curves with a flowing, organic design that has never been previously achieved. The body is made of precision-machined titanium combined with an aluminum cartridge base and an elastomer under cover, a selection of materials that provides significant resonance reduction along with lower mass. The cartridge body has threaded mounting holes to facilitate installation.

The AT-ART20 features dual moving coils aligned in an inverted “V” shape which provides optimal channel separation for superior stereo imaging and wide dynamics. The front yoke of the magnetic circuit is 0.6 mm thicker than previous designs, to improve magnetic flux density and increase the output efficiency by more than 15 percent to 0.55 mV.

The cartridge employs a nude special line-contact stylus with a solid boron cantilever just 0.011 inches (0.28 mm) in diameter, to extract a remarkable amount of information from the record groove. The boron cantilever is connected to the armature utilizing a stepped-pipe construction, which provides increased rigidity and improved strength with decreased resonance for a purer audio signal with clearer, more detailed sound.

The AT-ART20’s tip reinforcement plate is made of titanium, which reduces overall mass and improves the cartridge’s high-frequency performance, which extends to 50,000 Hz.

The Audio-Technica AT-ART20 Dual Moving Coil Stereo Cartridge is now available. Contact us on where and how to place your order.

Gaming

JUMANJI GAME LAUNCHES ON NINTENDO SWITCH

June 13, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Mobile game sees 384% increase in downloads after its major update
Fans’ demands are answered as JUMANJI launches on Nintendo Switch
Play local co-op, private or open online co-op, with cross-platform play

Marmalade Game Studio has announced that its mobile game JUMANJI: The Curse Returns, is now available on the Nintendo America eShop for Nintendo Switch^TM, making it available to millions more gamers. GamesIndustry.biz data shows Nintendo Switch is Nintendo’s best-selling console of all time, with over 103.54 million units sold. This exciting launch is predicted to build on the recent 384% mobile growth.

In March, Marmalade Game Studio released a major update to the mobile version of JUMANJI: The Curse Returns, introducing a new level of card and deck building tactics.

This evolution of card gameplay added another dimension to every encounter in the game. Since this landmark update, weekly downloads of the game on iOS and Android have increased by 31% on average, compared to previous weeks.

Drawing from a selection of ever-changing Attack and Assist cards, players must work together and strategize to defeat invading jungle wildlife. Every encounter brings with it fast-paced, card-based gameplay, for which quick thinking, deck management and teamwork are key. What’s more, when players buy the game on Nintendo Switch, they’ll get 2 Maps including Brantford and the Winter Resort.

Michael Willis, Co-CEO of Marmalade Game Studio, said: “Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular game consoles in the world. Making JUMANJI: The Curse Returns available on this platform means millions more people can now enjoy playing our game in the way they want to.”

“We recently unveiled a major upgrade of the game which we consider our best version yet, as proven to be hugely popular with a massive increase in downloads on mobile. We’re happy to be launching on Nintendo Switch at this time, bringing our latest update to a whole new audience and maintaining our momentum of success.”

JUMANJI: The Curse Returns captures fans’ nostalgia for the 1995 classic film.

Players visit iconic locations where they will be rolling the dice, reading riddles and facing dangerous creatures and plants from the mysterious jungle. Playing on their own or within a team, players face multiple threats including giant mosquitos, raging stampedes and monsoons, right through to the hunter, Van Pelt. The gameplay is simple to pick up, fast-paced and comes with tactical and deck building features. This combines to put the team under pressure as they work together to save the town.

All Marmalade Game Studio games support cross-platform multiplayer.

This means that those on Nintendo Switch can join their friends on iOS and Android. There are multiple ways to play JUMANJI: The Curse Returns. Play at home with 2 players in Local Co-Op or tackle the jungle in single player mode with AI characters. Bring friends and family together to vanquish Jumanji in online 4-player co-op.

JUMANJI: The Curse Returns is one of Marmalade Game Studio’s collection of highly successful digital board game adaptations, including MONOPOLY, CLUE/CLUEDO, THE GAME OF LIFE, THE GAME OF LIFE 2 and BATTLESHIP.

JUMANJI: The Curse Returns is available on the Nintendo America eShop for Nintendo Switch, priced $18.99 usd ($24.42 cad) / £14.99 / €17.99.

Fans of JUMANI should also watch out for new downloadable content that is coming soon based on the movies ‘JUMANJI: Welcome to the Jungle’, and ‘JUMANJI: The Next Level.’

About Marmalade Games Studio

London-based Marmalade Game Studio is one of the most successful publishers in the digital board games markets on Steam, Nintendo Switch and mobile. Notable successes include MONOPOLY, THE GAME OF LIFE 2 and CLUE/CLUEDO, all highly polished and innovative games that constantly top the charts on the App Store and Google Play.

For more information about Marmalade Game Studio, please visit the website: https://marmaladegamestudio.com/, and follow us on Twitter (@MarmaladeGames), Facebook (@MarmaladeGameStudio), and Instagram (@MarmaladeGames)

About Sony Pictures Consumer Products

Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) is the licensing and merchandising division of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group and Sony Pictures Television for Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services, and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics.

Reviews

This Kick Scooter Converts From Backpack To Longboard

June 10, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Kick scooter, pronounced ‘geek scooter.’

Kick scooters are gaining popularity in many populous urban and suburban areas worldwide. As Europe leans toward sustainable mobility, more and more creative ideas are addressing the issue of daily commuting. Designed and engineered in a home garage in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the OLAF Kick Scooter is one such attempt to alleviate the ‘last-mile’ problem.

Engineer Bostjan Zagar and his father developed an open platform kick scooter, OLAF Urban, that can carry any bag or backpack.

A unique feature is that if used with the provided OLAF backpack, the scooter itself is a backpack, and if the handle is folded, also a longboard.

Jure Lozic, designer of Musguard – rollable bike fender, calls the folding mechanism “an engineering marvel, simple and effective”. Bostjan owns a patent and hopes it will take him from A to B, where B is mass production. Slovenia has ample production capabilities, so an eventual goal would be global manufacture.

After almost three years of research and development, Zagar was confident enough to start crowd funding at Kickstarter.

To broaden the odds of success, he implemented the same folding mechanism to an existing concept of carry-on kick scooter, OLAF Business. Now you really can cross the Atlantic with a kick scooter. “It’s the coolest carry-on!”

Gaming

Retro FPS Action In Next Year’s Warhammer 40,000: Bolton

June 3, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Visceral retro FPS action to the Warhammer 40,000 flavor

Load up your Boltgun and plunge into battle headfirst! Experience a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, classic, frenetic FPS gameplay and the stylish visuals of your favourite 90’s retro shooters.

Play a battle-hardened Space Marine on a perilous mission across the galaxy, as they battle against the Chaos Space Marines and daemons of Chaos.

In glorious boomer shooter style, unleash your devastating Space Marine arsenal as you blast through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood. Run, jump and charge across huge levels to shoot, shred and slice the worst heretics across the galaxy!

“We are delighted to be working on this fast-paced indie FPS alongside the talented Auroch Digital studio, and our long standing partner Games Workshop,” announces Dessil Basmadjian, Chief Creative Officer at Focus Entertainment.

“We are excited by Boltgun’s skillful combination of iconic 90s style, the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and thrilling gameplay that is sure to delight all kinds of players.”“Auroch Digital is proud to be working with Games Workshop again and Focus Entertainment on Boltgun. As a team of massive Warhammer 40,000 fans, this game has been brewing since 2018 and we’re so excited we can FINALLY shout about it from the rooftops! We can’t wait for players to get their hands on it and to see their reactions” says Nina Adams, Operations Director at Auroch Digital.

Stay tuned FPS gamers- Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun will be coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PCs in 2023. For the Silo, Clemence Bigeon.

Gaming

Online Casino Games Explained

May 11, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

There are now a seriously wide variety of online casino games available for players to participate in, and it can be somewhat daunting for those of us with little or no experience of the exciting pastime. Online casinos have been around for quite some time now, but over the years the offerings from operators have improved significantly. The days of huge downloads are gone, and now instant access while on the move is all the rage. Sites like novibet.co.uk are able to provide a real casino experience in the palm of your hand, or the comfort of your own home. Let’s take a look at some of the games on offer.

Blackjack

An American card game which is seriously popular around the world, Blackjack is often the purists’ game of choice. In simplistic terms, Blackjack is a head to head battle against the dealer, where the best possible score available is 21. Each player is dealt two cards, with the dealer usually receiving one card face up. Players must then take the decision to ‘Hit’ (take another card from the dealer) or ‘Stand’ (stick with what they currently have). The dealer’s second card will then be revealed, with the winning hand then taking the spoils. There are some slight rule variations depending on where you are playing, but that’s the basics of the game of Blackjack covered.

Roulette

Roulette takes its name from the French word meaning little wheel, and is very much a game of chance. Players are able to mitigate or spread the risk as much as they like, either selecting one of 36 numbers, or splitting chips over a variety of different selections. The winning number is selected when the croupier releases the ball onto the roulette wheel in one direction, and spins the wheel itself in the other. The ball will eventually come to rest in a specific slot, and players are paid out accordingly. Various other bets can be placed on the roulette table, including red or black and 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd twelve. Some players will also choose to cover the green zero, as this is a loser on any red, black, or block of 12 combination.

Craps

A particularly versatile dice game, craps lends itself well to the online casino setting. Players make wagers against the house or bank as to the outcome of the roll or rolls of two dice. Although this may sound like a very simplistic game, it has the potential for great excitement with players looking to roll ‘the natural’ 7 or 11, while avoiding crapping out! Competitors take turns of rolling the two dice, with wagers placed on the pass line, or the don’t pass line. A roll of 2, 3 or 12 is referred to as craps, which results in anyone wagering on the pass line losing. Those having had a bet on the don’t pass line win on a 2 or 3 and tie on the 12. The shooter can continue to roll until a seven is hit, at which stage the shooting responsibility moves to the next player.

Reviews

Noteworthy Gifts And Gadgets To Improve Your Summer And Beyond

May 7, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

With upcoming summer temperatures in North America forecast as “lingering on the high end of the spectrum”, many are still out and about enjoying the longer days and extra leisure time. Of course, during the summer our desire for gadgets and gear that eases our travels, enhances our self-care regime, and just makes life more enjoyable is always in high demand. With that in mind, I’ve found some noteworthy gifts and gets sure to improve the rest of your season and far beyond.

myFlipShade (www.MyFlipShade.com) – $9.99 usd

Maybe the best accessory for smartphones since the PopSocket is myFlipShade—a newly launched item that provides a pop-up shield that prevents glare and other weather conditions from affecting your ability to see your screen.

It attaches to the back of your phone using an adhesive strip and flips around to not only prevent annoying glare, but also serve as a privacy shield to block peeping eyes from reading your screen. It also functions as a horizontal and vertical smartphone stand. Even though the shade is an all-in-one phone accessory, it can still be used with other accessories like credit card holders and stands. myFlipShade is compatible with iPhone 6 and up, including Plus models, and comes in several fun colors and patterns to match various mood or personalities: black, pineapple, summer print and marble white.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: myFlipShade

Skinit, MacBook Skins, iPhone Cases (www.Skinit.com) – $29.99-$45.99 usd

Speaking of stylish phone accessories, you can express your unique style with Skinit’s authentic case collections and premium vinyl decal skins featuring your favorite iconic brands, characters, and professional sports team…or you can custom-create your own! Skinit collaborates with Marvel, DC Comics, Looney Tunes and Hello Kitty to offer you official and original artwork, so you can let your inner character shine and express yourself with killer pop-culture brands and characters. Skinit is also an official licensor of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS so you can show off your team pride and let your team passion be known. Skinit iPhone Cases can also be fully customized, including personal photos, and also provide maximum protection from damaging falls. Featuring a dual-layer case construction, the Skinit Pro Case will provide maximum style and solid protection for any iPhone model. No matter what device you have or who your all-time favorite character is, Skinit will likely have you covered.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Skinit

i-Top (www.GoliathGames.us) – $16.99 usd

Leave your cellphones behind, disconnect from the world, and embrace quality family time this summer—and as often as you can, really! Goliath Games has introduced a new generation of spinning top toys called i-Top. Using smart technology, this high-tech top keeps track of the number of spins while LEDs light up the display. Spin your way to the top score by competing in multiple challenges. Unlock hidden features by spinning the top an exact number of spins to show special animations, or you can challenge your friends and family to a high score. With over ten different ways to play and tons of animations, the fun with i-Top can be non-stop. Have a friendly family competition to see who can spin the highest score and unlock the most hidden challenges and determine who’s the ultimate i-Top master? Also super portable and travel-friendly, the i-Top—available in Mega Gear Blue, Infinite Purple and Vortex Red—has a spinner that folds down so it easily fits in a pocket or bag. Keep it handy for hours of fun and laughter. Kudos to Goliath, which celebrates and facilitates quality family time and bringing people together.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Goliath Games

RCA Sound Soother (www.RCAAudioVideo.com) – 29.99 usd

There’s no better time than summer to catch up on your sleep and with RCA’s Sound Soother device you can relax and get a good night’s slumber (or daytime nap) while listening to your favorite of 10 pre-loaded sounds. You can also use it block out ambient noise, so it’s great for hotel use and while studying among other scenarios. Users can choose from white noise, waves, rain, brown noise, pink noise, campfire, Canon in D, Clair De Lune, Gymnopedie No. 1 or Greensleeves. Set your sleep timer for 30, 60 or 90 minutes or keep it on constantly to keep you sleeping soundly through the night. AC powered with included adapter or use anywhere with 3 AAA batteries and of course adjustable volume controls. You can also enjoy your own music from your smartphone through the aux input—making this a totally customizable product for your preferences.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: VOXX International Corporation

Minetan (www.MineTanBodySkin.com) – $34.95 usd

During the summer months there’s nothing better than having that perfect, sun kissed glow.

So it’s great news that Aussie self-tanning powerhouse Minetan has landed in the U.S. This one-hour self-tanner contains skin loving, PETA-approved ingredients that truly benefit skin, including moisturizing antioxidants and oils like argan oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, coconut water, shea butter and more. Every product is free of parabens, contains 100% natural DHA, and is even vegan friendly—all quite unique for a tanning brand. You can achieve a streak-free, bronzed babe look in just one hour, or leave it on longer for a darker result. Minetan has an inclusive color range, challenging the industry-wide standard of three size-fits-all (light, medium, dark) approach to tanners, by exploring the nuances of undertone. Offering a comprehensive range of highly advanced tanning products, Minetan’s one-hour tan is just one of their many world-first, skin-friendly formulas that’s been introduced to North American customers—both online and in Ulta Beauty stores. Other notable groundbreakers include a range of nourishing coconut-water based tans, a fitness tan, and a personal spray tan kit. With all of their one-hour tans, you choose your preferred custom color depth skin finish by deciding when you shower after application. You wash off for 45 seconds and you are good to go, with a personalized tan that looks and feels great and is actually good for your skin.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Minetan

Luster Pro Light Dental Whitening System (www.LusterPremiumWhite.com) – $43.99 usd

Want dramatically whiter, brighter teeth without a trip to the dentist, without messy strips and trays, and without sensitivity?

No problem! Luster Premium White offers just that with its Pro Light Dental Whitening System. Developed by dentists and clinically proven to deliver results, this trusted brand lets consumers enjoy peace-of-mind and professional-grade teeth whitening right at home…quickly, safely, conveniently and comfortably. Luster Pro Light Dental Whitening System is unique among teeth whitening brands in that it uses a patented Dual Power Xenon Whitening Light and Stain Lifting Serum to whiten teeth up to 6 shades in 30 minutes! It gently whitens without sulfates (SLS) and is enamel-safe. The system includes everything needed to deliver amazing results: Dual-Energy Whitening Light, Accelerinse, Stain Lifting Serum, Power White Pro Anticavity Fluoride Toothpaste in Mint. The Pro Light Whitening System can be purchased online as well as neighborhood retailers such as Walmart and Walgreens.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Luster Premium White

OMM Collection Haircare & Skincare (www.OMMCollection.com) – prices vary

The OMM Collection was inspired by the provincial South of France approach to “naturalism” and the company’s natural “farm to beauty” concept.

Indeed, OMM Unique hair formulas are blended with revolutionary Green Apple Stem Cell and Clover Flower Seed Extract to stimulate natural growth, strengthen hair follicles and deliver nourishment and thickening. The Shampoo is formulated with this Apple Stem Cell Extract with natural oils of Marula, Moringa, Amla and Prickly Pear. It’s a gentle concentrated light wash without sulfates. The Serum is a powerful infusion of hair treatment with Apple Stem Cell Extract and Capixyl, which preserves the hair follicle, providing thicker, healthier hair. The company’s Hair Mask is a rich, deep conditioning, weightless leave in treatment to rejuvenate, strengthen the overall health of hair. The Body Butter Soufflé is a rich, velvety and ultra-hydrating body butter containing natural ingredients that moisturizes the skin and locks in hydration. In addition, their Hand and Body Milk Crème is a rich, non-greasy, hydrating body cream enriched with Shea and Cocoa butter to help nourish, protect skin. The company also offers OMM signature fragrance essential oils of White Tea Jasmine and Dark Chocolate that were custom-developed with exclusivity and excellence in mind by a globally recognized international fragrance house.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: OMM Collections

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier (www.Liquid-IV.com) – $24.99 usd – 16 pack

Liquid I.V.’s Hydration Multiplier is a great-tasting, Non-GMO electrolyte drink mix that utilizes the breakthrough science of Cellular Transport Technology (CTT) to deliver hydration to your bloodstream faster and more efficiently than water alone. So effective, Liquid I.V. can provide the same hydration as drinking 2 to 3 bottles of water! Just add the electrolyte powder to your water and let CTT do the rest. Proper hydration allows your body to perform at the highest level, increase calorie burn, helps you stay mentally alert and energized, and even reduces signs of aging. Liquid I.V. is available in three flavors: Lemon Lime, Acai Berry, and Passion Fruit. I also love that Liquid I.V. is committed to defeating dehydration at a global level. With every order received, they donate one serving of Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier electrolyte drink mix to someone in need around the world. This includes the poorest regions of countries like Haiti and refugees in Uganda to helping those in need during emergency and disaster situations such as Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and the Southern California wildfires.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Liquid I.V.

Empower Cosmopolitan Martini (www.EmpowerCocktails.com) – $21.99 usd

For refreshment of a different sort, try the Empower Cosmopolitan Martini for happy hour, while lounging by the pool or whenever you’re in the mood for a tasty spirit.

While the distilled beverage market is a booming industry, it’s one that continually targets men while often leaving women out as an afterthought. But Empower Cocktails seeks to change all of that. This new disruptor puts celebrating and empowering women at the forefront of its mission, while dazzling and delighting with its ready-to-pour line of delicious cocktail drinks. They recently launched their first cocktail, the refreshing but not too sweet Empower Cosmopolitan Martini. The beverage contains Sweet Potato Vodka that’s locally-sourced from a family-owned farm in Northern California, as well as triple sec, cooling white cranberry and zesty lime. It is best-served refrigerated; all you need to enjoy it is a martini glass and—if you so desire—your favorite garnish. The drink is 25 proof and contains only 80 calories per three ounces. Also cause-conscious, Empower Cocktails partners with several non-profits that champion women’s initiatives including the Voss Foundation, Dress for Success Boston, Kicked it in Heels and the Metro-Manhattan Community Foundation to name a few.

Photo Ownership/Copyright: Empower Cocktails

For the Silo, Merilee Kern. As the Executive Editor and Producer of “The Luxe List,” Merilee Kern is an internationally-regarded consumer product trends expert and hospitality industry voice of authority—a travel, dining, leisure and lifestyle expert who spotlights noteworthy marketplace innovations, change makers, movers and shakers. She reports on exemplary travel destinations and experiences, extraordinary events and newsworthy products and services across all categories. Reach her online at www.TheLuxeList.com, on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/LuxeListEditor, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheLuxeList and on Instagram at www.Instagram.com/LuxeListReviews.

***Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above may have been provided at no cost or sponsored to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way.***

Reviews

Mattress Sales in Toronto: How to Find the Best Deals

April 30, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

A mattress is a vital component of comfort in your home.

A poor-quality mattress can cause body aches and affect your life. It’s, therefore, crucial to purchase the right mattress from a reputable store at a reasonable price. For the best mattress sale in Toronto, you need to consider some factors to help you make the right decision. If you’re looking for a deal on your next mattress or bed set, keep reading for tips on finding the best mattress sale in Toronto and get the most significant savings with no compromise on quality.

Identify a Reputable and Reliable Mattress Store

When shopping for a mattress sale in Toronto, it’s essential to identify reliable and reputable retailers. If you have friends or family members who have recently gone through a mattress purchase, they can give you good advice about specific stores that they found reliable. Local blogs or online forums dedicated to mattress purchases can also be good resources when looking at different brands and retailers.

Once you’ve identified some potential stores, it’s time to look into their sales policies. Most reputable retailers will offer sales periodically throughout the year—especially around major holidays like Black Friday and Christmas—so knowing how long those sales last is critical to ensure you get a good deal. A good mattress store in Toronto like the Queensway Mattress will provide overall satisfaction from good customer service to quality products and after-sales services. So, look out for any complaints about delivery times, damaged goods, or unsatisfactory services before finalizing your decision.

Try Out Before You Buy

Getting out of bed and trying out a mattress is an excellent way to be sure you’re making an informed decision. You can check how it feels, whether it’s too soft or too firm, and see if you like how it looks. If you want to buy a new mattress, try one out before purchasing—you may even decide that you can get by with what you already have. Leave enough time for your test drive; going from store to store will likely take more than a few hours.

Ask about return policies: Most stores won’t accept returns once you take off mattresses from their premises. Asking these questions up front can save you time and energy later on. Therefore, if you’re looking for a mattress sale in Toronto, it’s crucial to ensure they allow you to sleep on your new mattress before deciding whether it meets your needs.

The Most Uncomfortable Bed in the World - Touch a Life | OpenSea

Go for The Best Quality and Comfort

You might assume that high-quality, comfortable mattresses are expensive, but that’s not always true. You can get quality mattresses from reliable stores at reasonable prices if you know how to shop around. However, you need to know your needs and requirements before shopping for a new mattress to avoid wasting money on a product that doesn’t suit your needs.

For example, if you need a mattress that can help you relieve some pressure points on your body, then you can invest in a Latex or Memory foam mattress. If you have problems with allergies, then it is better to buy a hypoallergenic mattress from a reputable store. It’s good to match your needs with quality, comfort, and economical pricing to decide what type of mattress you should purchase.

Check The Warranty

Before you finalize your deal on a mattress sale in Toronto, check to see what kind of warranty it comes with to be safe. If your mattress wears out within five years and doesn’t have a solid product warranty, you might pay a lot more than you bargained for in the first instance. It’s also worth asking about details like return policy and restocking fees: some businesses are notorious for charging steep return fees or simply refusing to accept used or damaged products.

Buying mattresses supported by the most reliable warranties will keep you from paying extra money later. Also, ask how long those warranties last; sometimes, they expire just months after purchase. Dedicated warranty periods may range between 2 and 15 years.

Take Advantage of Free Delivery and Removal

When buying a mattress, ask about free delivery and removal. If a retailer doesn’t offer such services or charges too much for them, you can probably find them elsewhere. The point of getting great deals on mattress sales is not to deal with additional hidden fees. Just be sure to factor in other costs, like transportation and set-up, when you do your comparison shopping.

For example, if one store offers free shipping, but another delivers right to your door at no extra charge, you might pay more overall by Option 1. However, some people prefer picking out their mattress; they say they can test it out before purchasing. You can also benefit from some retailers offering a mattress sale in Toronto who let customers try out mattresses at home—so check around!

Look for Economical Pricing and Flexible Payment Methods

Many of us choose to buy mattresses online since they tend to be less expensive. However, if you’re going to buy a mattress online, make sure you find one with an economical pricing structure and flexible payment options. You don’t want to spend even more money paying interest or other fees because you bought your mattress online; shop smart and get a good deal.

You can also search for reputable stores that offer mattress sales in Toronto at monthly installments and no-interest financing plans. This way, you won’t have to pay all at once but will still get to enjoy your new mattress immediately after making your purchase.

Conclusion

Those who know how to find deals on mattress sales in Toronto are doing a service to themselves, whether they choose to purchase online or offline. There are so many choices that come with different prices, but if you know where to look and what questions to ask, you can get what you need at a price that won’t break your bank. A reputable mattress store in Toronto will have all of their products clearly labeled and will be able to answer any questions you may have about their products. You need not settle for less than what you want when purchasing mattresses; do your research, ask your questions, and use these tips as a guide when looking for a deal on a mattress sale in Toronto.

Gaming

Gaming And Exercise Reduced Pandemic Stress In These Countries

April 7, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Nearly six out of 10 adults have suffered mental health problems during the pandemic
Stress and anxiety are the biggest concerns, international research shows

Taking more exercise and online gaming are the two main ways people globally are tackling mental health issues driven by the pandemic, new international research* from the leading digital board game publisher Marmalade Game Studio shows.

Its study across the US, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore found nearly two out of five people (38%) have turned to exercise to address mental health concerns while 30% are using online gaming to relieve stress and anxiety.

Marmalade Game Studio’s research found mental health issues have soared across all countries during the pandemic with nearly six out of 10 (57%) saying they have developed mental health concerns during the pandemic and the same number say they are currently suffering from a range of issues. People in Singapore (65%) and Hong Kong (64%) are the worst affected followed by France (57%), Germany (56%) and the US (52%).

The biggest issues internationally are stress and anxiety with 38% saying they are currently affected by stress while 30% say they are suffering from anxiety.

However more than one in five (22%) say they are depressed and 4% say they have suicidal thoughts.

Marmalade Game Studio has recently introduced a new feature on its games in response to demand from customers for more ways to stay connected with family and friends – its Bubble in-game video chat allows gamers to add friends and family to group chats, start games from these, and video chat whilst playing.

Cristina Mereuta, co-CEO at Marmalade Game Studio, said: “The pandemic has had a huge effect on mental health globally and millions have at points suffered from a range of conditions caused by worries about their own and others physical health as well as financial worries.

“Many people are clearly taking action with increased exercise and online gaming appearing to be the most popular ways of relieving stress and anxiety.

“It is important however that people seek professional help where appropriate and it’s worrying to see that some people are doing nothing.”

The mental health impact has not all been negative – around 7% of French people say their mental health has improved during the pandemic followed by 6% of Americans, 5% of people in Hong Kong, 4% of Germans and 2% of people in Singapore.

The table below shows the ways people across all countries are addressing mental health issues.

ACTION TAKEN?	PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES WHO HAVE TAKEN THESE STEPS
Doing more exercise	38%
Playing online games	30%
Trying to see friends and family more	29%
Getting help from my doctor	27%
Talking to loved ones	26%
Getting help from mental health professionals	25%
Talking to close friends	19%
Doing nothing	14%

Digital gaming has proved to be important for mental health – 16%** of European Union gamers say being able to play games online and connect with others particularly families helped during lockdowns and 42% say playing multiplayer games during lockdown made them happier.

* Marmalade Game Studio commissioned independent research company PureProfile to interview 1,000 adults aged 18-plus across the US, France, Germany, Singapore, and Hong Kong in November 2021 using an online methodology.

** https://www.statista.com/topics/8016/covid-19-impact-on-the-gaming-industry-worldwide/#dossierKeyfigures

Gaming

Agency Now Representing World Class Esport Athletes

April 5, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

You may have only recently heard about esports and esport athletes but professional video game sport competitions have been around for over half a decade. Since 2018, Prodigy Agency carries the mission to bring 360° support to esports players by guiding more than 170 talents around the world.

Are you an accomplished esport athlete? Prodigy can help you become a professional and compete against the world’s best. Much like a physical world professional, you can find your way to the top and earn sponsorships, awards and a real world salary. Read on…..

Gaming

World Chess Champ Partnership With Unibet Fights Problem Gambling

April 1, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Kindred Group brand Unibet continues its sponsorship with five-time World Champion in chess, Magnus Carlsen, and extends its partnership with Offerspill, the Norwegian chess club, founded by Magnus Carlsen.

Kindred Group plc (Kindred) has signed a two years extension of its partnership with the world’s best chess player, Magnus Carlsen through its flagship brand Unibet. The Group also extends its sponsorship of Offerspill, Norway’s largest chess club. Both sponsorships will promote and support Kindred’s long-term ambition to reach zero per cent revenue from harmful gambling by 2023.

“We see great potential in engaging the best chess player of all time, and the world’s highest-ranked chess player, as a global ambassador in the fight to combat problem gambling,” says Nils Andén, Chief Commercial Officer, Kindred Group.

“It is also natural for us to involve Offerspill, Norway’s largest chess club in our work. This partnership is an important contribution to raising awareness of chess as an exciting global sport, while also engaging in the local community in Norway.”

“Just as I have set a hair-raising goal of becoming the first chess player in the world to reach 2,900 rating points, Kindred, as the first global gambling operator, has set itself an ambition of zero revenue from customers with harmful gambling behavior. This is an ambition I would like to contribute to achieving and a message I am happy to support,” says Magnus Carlsen, five-time World Champion.

“In top sports, it is about pushing the boundaries, but at the same time, you have to know your limitations and know when to stop. The same thing is important when gambling; you need to stay in control and know when to stop,” says Carlsen.

“Over the last two years, Offerspill made an impressive effort to lift Norwegian chess to a new level, especially during the pandemic.

Such a boost requires funding, and we are proud to contribute, and at the same time promote our message of safety, sustainability and responsibility in entertainment-based gambling through the club,” concludes Nils Andén.

In 2014, Unibet was the first gambling operator to introduce odds on chess, at the same time as Magnus Carlsen defended his World Cup title for the first time.

Throughout the years, Kindred has also sponsored a number of international tournaments and major championships. Magnus Carlsen founded Offerspill in 2019 and has been a Unibet ambassador since 2020. The same year Offerspill and Kindred Group signed a partnership. Today, Offerspill is the largest chess club in Norway with 400 members. For the Silo, Maria Angell Dupont.

Reviews

Progressive Dolls Feature Anatomically Correct Bodies And Varied Ethnic Groups

March 18, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Educational Insights, a leader in manufacturing toys that ignite passions and inspire imaginations, offers two innovative new baby dolls.

Beyond being crafted from the highest-quality European standards, Baby Bijoux and Baby Doux foster nurturing-care and imaginative play while exposing children to the realities of their world. The dolls come in a wide variety of just-like-me skin-tones and ethnicities, and Baby Bijoux features anatomically correct body designs.

Both dolls were awarded the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award and are already catching the attention of influential moms like @kcstauffer, with over 3.2 million followers, who has shown her daughters playing with the new dolls twice on her Instagram channel.

Baby Bijoux is a beautifully crafted, anatomically correct 15.75” (40 cm) doll which encourages self-discovery, nurturing and empathy.

Available in both boy and girl in just-like-me skin tones and hair types of African American, Asian, Caucasian and Hispanic. This baby will be sure to encourage curiosity and answer kids’ natural questions about the human body while helping to develop language and vocabulary skills and encouraging social and emotional development.

Age range: 3-6 years

MSRP: $64.99usd

Baby Doux is a 12” (30.5 cm) soft bodied baby doll available in multicultural skin tones including Hispanic, African American, Asian and Caucasian. With movable arms and legs and realistic baby details, the just-like-me skin tones promote real world connections. Encouraging your little ones to care for their baby helps teach empathy, social and emotional skills as well as promoting imaginative play.

Age range: 2+ years

MSRP: $54.99usd

For the Silo, Megan Flagg.

Gaming

Lure Of Pinball

March 7, 2022 The Silo 2 Comments

2john_and_pinballmachine — John and his machine

I’ll never forget the first time.

I was 7 years old in the mid-70’s, and the parents were carting myself and a few rep-team baseball buddies home from a game. They decided to stop at an old bowling alley in Burford, Ontario to get a bite to eat. I don’t remember what I ate, but what I’ll never forget was discovering that large cabinet standing on four metal peg-legs in the corner of the alley. Jutting up from the back was a headboard depicting brilliantly lit cartoon-like women with implausible breasts, silently calling out to me to come closer. My one baseball bud knew what it was all about. “Hey, do you want to play a game?” I most certainly did want to play a game. He dropped a quarter in the machine, pushed the credit button and the machine chugged to life. I’ll never forget my first game of pinball.

That moment started a lifetime love for me.

The number of hours spent chasing the silver ball in arcades, bowling alleys, laundromats and pizza parlours may have cost me a few grade points in school, but I developed into a very skillful player, winning cash prizes, a television, and my greatest tournament victory: a classic pinball machine which I now get to play at home. I even travelled to The World Pinball Championships in Pittsburgh to test my flipper prowess against the best, and found out I still had skills that I needed to work on!

Pinball kept pleasure and solace at never more than 25 cents away.

Nothing could clear my head and put me in the moment like releasing the plunger and sending that silver sphere jetting onto the playfield. What was going to happen this time? The nudge of the machine was its very own dance; enough pushing to alter the path of the ball, yet not so much that you might incur a disqualifying “tilt.” The immense satisfaction of a well-targeted flipper shot hitting the mark, the helpless feeling of a ball heading down the middle with maddening precision. The shrill clang of the bells, the churning of the scoring reels on the way to a free game. Man, there was nothing else like it. For the Silo, John McIntosh.

Have a hankering for some classic silver ball action? Check out these sites:

The Church of the Silver Ball is a warehouse of pinball machines in Mississauga open to the public to play. Check it out at www.thechurchofthesilverball.com

The Toronto Pinball League has game nights all across Southern Ontario in home arcades. Go to www.topl.org for info.

Want to play with the big boys? Check out PAPA, the home of The World Pinball Championships held each year in Pittsburgh www.papa.org/index.php

Gaming

Gaming And Gambling Is Innately North American And Predates Euro Contact

February 9, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Gambling is innately Canadian.

Whilst that may seem self-evident today, it was no less obvious before the idea of Canada as a unitary nation had even been established. Gary Smith of the University of Alberta has described how “First Nations peoples gambling on sports events pre-dated the arrival of Europeans in Canada”.

Despite a fluctuating legal status since 1892 when the first Criminal Code of Canada was established, Canadians have remained firmly welded to the idea of a bet. Whether it is a matter of sports betting or the more calculative games provided by casinos, and more recently over the internet, Canadians, it seems, love to gamble.

What it is in the Canadian national psyche that drives this appetite is far from clear.

Those reports that have dealt with the question have tended to look at the administrative and legislative conditions that have enabled the industry to establish itself, rather than asking the more fundamental question of where the appetite for this form of recreation stems from.

There is no doubt that the way the gambling industry in Canada is managed at a state level has meant that local pockets of gambling activity have been allowed to flourish. Smith points to the way that two Criminal Code of Canada amendments (1969 and 1985) were ‘pivotal’ in enabling the expansion of the industry. The first was because it decriminalized lotteries and casinos and the second because it allowed electronic gambling devices whilst also allowing provinces to operate and regulate the industry within their territories. In essence, because there was no one-size-fits-all brake on the industry it was allowed to extend into all those areas where it was not explicitly barred.

Against that historical backdrop the emergence of the internet and the de-territorialised markets it has allowed to develop have seen the Canadian appetite for gambling further supplied.

Such is the extent of the market that European based providers, such as Bet365, the UK’s leading online provider, are going out of their way to woo Canadian punters. Specialist sports books focusing on Canadian sports as well as a long list of games and pursuits that are already well-established across North America – not least poker and blackjack – mean that what these providers are offering is a perfect fit for the Canadian market.

There is a sense that with the US gambling industry seemingly at a tipping point in terms of the full deregulation of online gambling, these global providers are doing everything they can to achieve a presence and a profile on the continent. The basic thinking is that something akin to a gold rush is set to take place once the US marketplace truly opens up, and that rolling out into the US market will be easier from Canada than from Europe.

If this makes it sound as though the Canadian gambling market is somehow merely a stepping stone that is far from the case. Canada’s gambling market is itself measured in the billions of dollars and it is an entirely viable proposition on its own merits.

Of course, what it is that makes Canadians so happy to gamble remains an open question.

. Amidst such a diverse and heterogeneous population is it possible that enjoying a gamble in one form or another is one of the things that unites us as a nation? For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Gaming

SUPER BOWL TO GENERATE $1 BILLION IN LEGAL BETS

February 2, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

(LAS VEGAS) — Bettors could place $1 billion usd in wagers on Super Bowl LVI at legal online and retail sportsbooks across the country, according to projections by PlayUSA, which provides news and analysis of the U.S. gaming industry. If sportsbooks reach those estimates it would roughly double last year’s estimated Super Bowl handle of more than $500 million, a product of the continued proliferation of legal sports betting.

NFL Bets, 2022 Pro Bowl NFL Betting Lines | Vegas Super Bowl Odds NFL

“$1 billion usd in legal wagering on a single game would be an impressive milestone for the industry,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayUSA.

“It would have seemed impossible just a few years ago to reach such heights, but with the expansion of sports betting over the last year it is inevitable that legal wagering will soar.”

https://www.thesilo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Super-Bowl-fact-sheet-2022.pdf

The Super Bowl is the most-wagered-on single sporting event in the U.S. In 2021, the American Gaming Association estimated that Americans & North Americans bet $4.3 billion usd on Super Bowl LV, both legally and illegally. PlayUSA estimates that more than $500 million usd was wagered at legal online or retail sportsbooks for last year’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, still a small chunk of the more than $50 billion usd in legal wagers placed across the country throughout 2021.

When the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals meet for the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, sports betting in some form will be legal in 30 states and Washington D.C. Those jurisdictions represent more than 166.9 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2021. By contrast, 120 million people lived in 21 legal sports betting jurisdictions for last year’s Super Bowl.

For this year’s game:

Sports betting is legal in at least some form in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
New York, which was limited to retail sportsbooks last year, launched online betting in early January. New York is already on pace to shatter the U.S. record for monthly handle, which New Jersey set in October with $1.3 billion usd in bets.
Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming did not offer any form of legal sports betting for last year’s Super Bowl.
Even with legal sports betting in 30 states and Washington, D.C., no team from a state with legal sportsbooks has ever played in the Super Bowl. That will continue this year as Ohio awaits launch sometime over the next year and California lawmakers debate legalization.

“The sports betting landscape has changed dramatically since last year’s game,” said Eric Ramsey, data analyst for PlayUSA. “More than half of all Americans now live in a legal jurisdiction, and even well-established markets such as New Jersey and Nevada have grown significantly over the last year as mobile betting gains in popularity.”

PlayUSA projects that Nevada, which was the second-largest market in 2021 and historically the top Super Bowl market, will produce the largest Super Bowl handle with $175 million usd. New York could generate $160 million usd. If those estimates come to fruition, that would be more betting volume than every legal sportsbook in the U.S. combined to tally for the 2019 game.

New Jersey ($130 million usd), Illinois ($75 million usd), Pennsylvania ($70 million usd), Arizona ($55 million usd), Michigan ($45 million usd), Indiana ($40 million usd), Colorado ($35 million usd) Louisiana ($35 million usd), Virginia ($35 million usd), and Tennessee ($30 million usd) will follow Nevada and New York, according to PlayUSA estimates.

“Americans & North Americans have become increasingly comfortable with online betting in general and the less conventional bets it facilitates, such as in-game wagering,” Ramsey said. “This should really help boost Super Bowl betting, which for years has enticed bettors with fun prop bets and other unconventional wagers. The big difference this year is those types of bets are easier than ever to make in more places than ever before.” For The Silo, Zack Hall.

Reviews

Finest Coffee And Coconut Oil From Dominican Republic

January 28, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Everyone already knows Kimera Koffee’s for its finest ground coffee, highest quality beans, and some of the best flavors on the market. Now Kimera Koffee is growing the family with its limited edition Phase 1 Peaberry Whole Bean Koffee and Kimera Koconut Oil.

The Kimera Koffee Pase 1 Peaberry Whole Bean Koffee is grown in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Using some of the finest beans, this blend uses the plants’ yield of 3%-5% peaberry beans, each hand selected and sorted. Peaberry beans are unique in that they are the only bean in the cherry (rather than two), therefore receiving all of the plant’s nutrients in a concentrated dose.

Peaberry beans roast differently partly because they have a single coffee bean within a single coffee cherry (fruit), instead of the usual two half-beans per cherry.

Peaberry beans are regarded as naturally sweeter, more aromatic, and more pleasant in taste than regular coffee beans.

This limited edition flavor packs a punch to your morning routine with some of the freshest, most potent whole beans you can find.

Kimera’s other new addition is the Kimera Koconut Oil. This handcrafted, pure coconut oil is sure to pack a delicious punch with any drink or cooking need. Kimera’s Koconut Oil is extra virgin and cold pressed, giving you the finest, most high quality oil on the market. The oil is non-GMO and unrefined for the best flavor and potency money can buy.

As well as Kimera Koffee’s dedication to proving the high quality products on the market, they are aslo are proud supporters of the Belarminio Ramirez Foundation, which uses their donations to provide school materials, clothes, food, and basic household appliances to communities in the Dominican Republic’s farming towns. Every Kimera Koffee purchase helps aid this fight for a better future. Featured image- cronkite.asu.edu For the Silo, Katie Lapinski.

Kimera Koffee can be purchased online through their website at kimerakoffee.com or Amazon, as well as at select retailers in the USA, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Supplemental- The many great health benefits, both physical and mental, of MCT Oil vs Coconut Oil.

Gourmet Coffee Lovers: What is a peaberry?

Gaming

Cures For The Corona Virus Blues

December 31, 2021 The Silo 4 Comments

The stay at home orders for the coronavirus has been extended in most cities, and for many of us who thought it would only be a few weeks, we are realizing that these orders might be for a lot longer than that.

What we thought might be a nice break from the grind of overworking has turned into a situation where we do not know what to do with ourselves. We have watched every series and film on Netflix that we missed and reruns of our favorite sports teams just ain’t cutting it the way we thought they would.

Online Casino Gaming

You might be tired of watching Netflix, and perhaps you are done with not having any interaction with your entertainment. This will push you perhaps toward playing interactive games. These can be great, but most are aimed toward young people, and they do not have any real-world consequences. As a result, they can get pretty boring after a while.

Casino Background Stock Photos And Images - 123RF

If you want something to do that is both interactive and has consequences, gambling at casinos online like Casimba is an excellent choice for some entertaining fun. This interactive website and mobile app gives you access to all of your favorite casino games, including slots, craps, roulette, blackjack, bingo, Bacharach, and every form of poker that you can imagine. And unlike traditional casinos, you don’t have to travel in order to play your favorite games.

You can use your desktop, laptop, or tablet computer, or your smartphone. As long as you have an internet connection, you have access to all the amazing casino games. And to make things serious, you play for real money. So the stakes can get pretty high, and so can the entertainment when you play online casino gambling.

Learning a New Language

Most people would love to learn a new language. When they hear people able to move from one language to another, it is always cool. However, most people feel that learning a new language is difficult and extremely time-consuming. Well because of the coronavirus lockdown, you got lots of time on your hands. And today there is software like Babel that specializes in helping anyone to quickly learn a new language. The lessons are all online, and you can move at your own speed. Also, the company has dozens of languages for you to learn. Imagine coming out of the coronavirus lockdown able to speak a new language.

Meditation

Too many people think that meditation is an eastern practice that is not effective in the western world. The reality is that meditation is both wonderful at reducing stress, and is effective no matter where you are. Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, and wherever it is introduced, it becomes part of society. In Western societies, even traditional doctors and medical institutions are now advising patients to indulge in meditation on a regular basis. Meditating is simple. You only need to sit in a quiet place and clear your mind. Steady breathing helps. It will take a while for you to do it, but after some practice you will find this simple exercise relieves stress and lifts your spirit.

The coronavirus has caused lots of stress and feelings of lost control. This is a natural response to a situation that takes you out of your normal routine. Invest some time in the endeavors included here and it will help you to relieve the coronavirus blues. For the Silo, Dimitry Karloff.

Gaming

ENDLESS CHRISTMAS RERUNS SPURS DIGITAL BOARDGAME DOWNLOADS IN UK

December 23, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

RESEARCH SHOWS 50% OF CHRISTMAS TV SHOWS IN THE UK WILL BE REPEATS

Take note viewers of British television programming- Christmas Day will be the worst for TV repeats with 55% of programs having aired before. Last year a similar situation resulted in Christmas 2020 seeing a massive 460% increase in downloads of Marmalade Game Studios games, which includes official versions of Monopoly, Taboo, Cluedo, Clue, Jumanji and The Game of Life. The studio believes that at least in part this trend was fueled by ‘boredom’ in watching Christmas TV reruns. The corresponding figure for 2019 is 54%.

In addition, new analysis* from the UK’s leading digital board games publisher reveals 50% of the programs this Christmas on BBC 1, BBC2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will be repeats. The channels will show 403 programs across Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and 202 will be repeats.
Marmalade Game Studio’s analysis reveals that 72% of the programs that will air on Channel 5 will be repeats, and the corresponding figures for Channel 4, ITV1, BBC2 and BBC1 will be 55%, 41%, 57% and 21% respectively.

Overall, Christmas Day will be the worst for repeats with 55% of programs having aired before, compared to 50% for Boxing Day and 46% for Christmas Eve.

Marmalade Game Studio’s analysis reveals that 52% of programs shown on the five channels across Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 2020 were repeats, and the corresponding figure for 2019 is 54%.

Saturday 18th December 2021

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
10.00am Saturday Kitchen Live :
  Countdown to Christmas
11.30am Mary Berry – Love to Cook (Repeat)
12.00 Football Focus
1.00pm BBC News, Weather
1.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
2.00pm Escape to the Country* (Repeat)
2.30pm Film : Maleficent (2014)*
4.00pm Final Score*
5.10pm BBC News*
5.20pm Regional News, Weather*
5.30pm Superman & Lois*
6.10pm The Weakest Link Strictly Special*
7.00pm Strictly Come Dancing : The Final*
9.05pm Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel*
10.05pm BBC News, Weather*
10.25pm Match of the Day*
11.45pm The NFL Show*
12.15am Film : The Lost Boys (1987)*
1.50am Weather for the Week Ahead*
1.55am BBC News*

*Schedule was slightly changed due to AJ Odudo
being injured so couldn’t take part in the Strictly
Come Dancing Final. Match of the Day was
reduced to 35 minutes because of postponements
of some games due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Replacement Schedule
   2.00pm Escape to the Country (Repeat)
3.00pm Film : Maleficent (2014)
  4:30pm Final Score
5:15pm BBC Weekend News
5:30pm Regional News
5:35pm BBC Weather
5:40pm Superman & Lois
6:25pm The Weakest Link
7:10pm Strictly Come Dancing
9:00pm Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel
10:00pm BBC Weekend News
10:15pm BBC Weather
10:20pm Match of the Day
10:50pm Euro 2020 : Match of the Day Top 10,
Most Memorable Euros Moments
11:20pm The NFL Show
11:50pm Film : The Lost Boys (1987)
1:25am Weather for the Week Ahead
1:30am BBC News

BBC One Wales (as above except)

2.00pm   A Welsh-Italian Christmas
with Michela Chiappa (Repeat)
  2.30pm Best Dishes Ever  (Repeat) (until 3.00pm)

   BBC One Northern Ireland (as above)

BBC One Scotland (as above except)

2.00pm Escape to the Country (Repeat)
  2.30pm Film : Maleficent (2014)
4.00pm Landward
4.30pm Sportscene (until 5.10pm)
11.50pm Sportscene
12.50pm The NFL Show
1.20am Film : Lost Boys (1987)
2.55am Weather for the Week Ahead
3.00am BBC News

    Sunday 19th December 2021

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
7.30am Match of the Day (Repeat)
  9.00am The Andrew Marr Show
10.00am Politics England
10.30am Sunday Morning Live
11.30am Heaven Made
12.30pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.00pm BBC News, Weather for the Week Ahead
1.15pm Songs of Praise :
Christmas at Westminster Abbey
1.50pm Film : How to Train Your Dragon 3 :
The Hidden World (2019)
3.25pm Frozen Planet (Repeat)
4.25pm BBC News
4.35pm Regional News, Weather
4.45pm Countryfile at Christmas
5.45pm Antiques Roadshow Christmas Special
6.45pm Sports Personality of the Year
9.00pm The Girl Before
10.00pm BBC News
10.20pm Regional News, Weather
10.30pm Match of the Day 2
11.40pm The Women’s Football Show
12.15am Film : Spider-Man : Far From Home (2019)
2.15am Weather for the Week Ahead
2.20am BBC News

Monday 20th December 2021

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
9.15am Morning Live at Christmas
10.00am Animal Park Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.45am A Countryside Christmas
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.00pm BBC News
1.30pm Regional News
1.45pm Lifeline
1.55pm Snow Babies (Repeat)
2.55pm Donkey’s Caroling Christmas-Tacular
3.05pm Film : Moana (2016)
4.45pm Wallace & Gromit :
  A Matter of Loaf and Death (Repeat)
5.15pm Pointless (Repeat)
6.00pm BBC News, Weather
6.35pm Regional News
7.05pm Mary Berry’s Festive Feasts
8.00pm EastEnders
8.30pm Would I Lie to You? At Christmas
9.00pm The Girl Before
10.00pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News, Weather
10.35pm Film : King of Thieves (2018)
12.20am Bad Education Christmas Special (Repeat)
12.50am Cuckoo Christmas Special (Repeat)
  1.25am Weather for the Week Ahead
1.30am BBC News

Tuesday 21st December 2021

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
9.15am Morning Live at Christmas
10.00am Animal Park Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.45am A Countryside Christmas
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.00pm BBC News
1.30pm Regional News, Weather
1.45pm Spy in the Snow (Repeat)
2.45pm Film : Saving Mr Banks (2013)
4.45pm Wallace and Gromit : The Wrong Trousers
  (Repeat)
5.15pm Pointless (Repeat)
6.00pm BBC News, Weather
6.30pm Regional News
7.00pm The Goes Wrong Show :
The Spirit of Christmas
(Repeat)
7.30pm EastEnders
8.00pm Celebrity MasterChef
  Christmas Cook-Off
9.00pm The Girl Before
10.00pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News, Weather
10.35pm The Royle Family :
Barbara’s Old Ring (Repeat)
11.35pm Have I Got a Bit More News for You
(Repeat)
12.20am The Graham Norton Show (Repeat)
1.10am Weather for the Week Ahead
1.15am BBC News

Wednesday 22nd December 2021

BBC One

   6.00am Breakfast
9.15am Morning Live at Christmas
10.00am Animal Park Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.45am A Countryside Christmas
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.00pm BBC News
1.30pm Regional News, Weather
1.45pm Snow Animals (Repeat)
2.45pm Merry Madagascar (Repeat)
3.05pm Film : Pete’s Dragon (2016)
4.40pm Wallace & Gromit : A Close Shave (Repeat)
5.15pm Pointless Celebrities Christmas Special
6.00pm BBC News, Weather
6.30pm Regional News
7.00pm The Repair Shop at Christmas (Repeat)
8.00pm The Great British Celebrity Sewing Bee
Christmas Special
9.00pm The Girl Before
10.00pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News, Weather
10.35pm Film : Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Premiere
12.30am Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel (Repeat)
1.30am Superman & Lois (Repeat)
2.10am Weather for the Week Ahead
2.15am BBC News


  Thursday 23rd December 2021

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
9.15am Animal Park Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.00am Animal Park Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.45am A Countryside Christmas
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.00pm BBC News
1.30pm Regional News, Weather
1.45pm Penguins : Meet the Family (Repeat)
2.45pm Revolting Rhymes (Repeat)
3.15pm Film : Cinderella (2015)
4.50pm Wallace and Gromit : A Grand Day Out
  (Repeat)
5.15pm Superman & Lois
6.00pm BBC News, Weather
6.20pm Regional News
6.30pm The Weakest Link Christmas Special
7.15pm The Wall Versus EastEnders
8.05pm EastEnders
8.30pm Ghosts Christmas Special
9.00pm Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off
  10.00pm Not Going Out Christmas Special
10.40pm BBC News
11.10pm Regional News, Weather
11.20pm Gavin & Stacey
12.20am Film : Late Night (2019)
1.55am Weather for the Week Ahead
2.00am BBC News

Christmas Eve Friday 24th December 2021

  BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
9.15am CBeebies presents :
  The Night Before Christmas (Repeat)
9.50am The Farmer’s Llamas
(Repeat)
  10.20am Room on the Broom (Repeat)
10.45am The Gruffalo (Repeat)
11.15am The Gruffalo’s Child
11.40am Film : Brave (2012)
1.05pm BBC News
1.20pm Regional News, Weather
1.30pm Film : Frozen (2013)
3.00pm Film : Abominable (2019)  Premiere
4.30pm Film : Dolittle (2020) Premiere
6.00pm Shaun the Sheep :
  The Flight Before Christmas
6.30pm BBC News
6.55pm Regional News, Weather
7.00pm The Repair Shop at Christmas
8.00pm EastEnders
8.30pm Top Gear : Driving Home for Christmas
9.30pm I Can See Your Voice
10.30pm The Vicar of Dibley :
The Christmas Lunch Incident (Repeat)
11.15pm BBC News, Weather
11.45pm Midnight Mass from St Chad’s Cathedral
1.00am Film : Lost at Christmas (2020) Premiere
2.35am The NFL Show
3.10am Weather for the Week Ahead
3.15am BBC News

  Christmas Day Saturday 25th December 2021

BBC One

   6.00am Breakfast
9.05am Zog  (Repeat)
9.35am Zog and the Flying Doctors (Repeat)
10.00am Christmas Day Service from
Coventry Cathedral
11.00am Stick Man (Repeat)
11.25am Shaun the Sheep :
The Flight Before Christmas (Repeat)
12.00pm Top of the Pops Christmas
1.00pm BBC News, Weather
1.10pm Film : The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
Premiere
2.30pm Superworm
3.00pm The Queen
3.10pm Film : Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Premiere
  5.10pm  Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special
6.25pm Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel
7.25pm Blankety Blank Christmas Special
8.00pm  Call the Midwife Christmas Special
9.35pm EastEnders
10.20pm Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special
10.50pm The Vicar of Dibley :
The Handsome Stranger (Repeat)
11.50pm BBC News, Weather
12.00am On Christmas Night
12.05am Film : Last Christmas (2019)
1.45am Would I Lie to You? At Christmas (Repeat)
  2.15am I Can See Your Voice
  (Repeat)
3.15am Weather for the Week Ahead
3.20am BBC News

  Boxing Day Sunday 26th December 2021

BBC One

  6:00am Breakfast
9:15am The Snail and the Whale (Repeat)
9:45am The Highway Rat (Repeat)
10:10am Film : Shaun the Sheep: The Movie (2015)
11:30am Film : Trolls (2016)
12:55pm BBC News
1:05pm Regional News, Weather
1:15pm Songs of Praise :
Daniel O’Donnell’s Faith Journey
1:50pm Revolting Rhymes Part One (Repeat)
2:20pm Film : Beauty and the Beast (2017)
4:20pm Film : Paddington (2014)
5:50pm Around the World in 80 Days Episode 1
6:40pm Around the World in 80 Days Episode 2
7:30pm Death in Paradise Christmas Special
9:00pm A Very British Scandal
10:00pm EastEnders
10:25pm BBC News, Weather
10:40pm Match of the Day
12:15am Film : The Accountant (2016)
2:15am Weather for the Week Ahead
2:20am BBC News

  Bank Holiday Monday 27th December 2021

BBC One

   6:00am Breakfast
7:45am Match of the Day (Repeat)
9:20am Film : Monsters vs Aliens (2009)
10:45am Film : The Boss Baby (Repeat)
12:15pm Bargain Hunt
1:00pm BBC News
1:20pm Regional News, Weather
1:30pm Film : Finding Dory (2016)
3:00pm Film : Horrible Histories : The Movie
Rotten Romans (2019) Premiere
4:30pm Countryfile
5:30pm BBC News
5:45pm Regional News, Weather
5:55pm Film : Paddington 2 (2017)
7:30pm EastEnders
8:00pm MasterChef: The Professionals
Rematch 2021
9:00pm A Very British Scandal
10:00pm BBC News
10:25pm Regional News, Weather
10:35pm The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar in White (Repeat)
11:30pm Not Going Out Christmas Special (Repeat)
12:15am Film : When Harry Met Sally (1989)
1:45am Weather for the Week Ahead
1:50am BBC News

  Bank Holiday Tuesday 28th December 2021

BBC One

    6:00am Breakfast
9:15am Film : Planes (2013)
10:40am Film : Cars 3 (2017)
12:15pm Bargain Hunt Christmas Special (Repeat)
1:00pm BBC News
1:15pm Regional News, Weather
1:25pm Superworm (Repeat)
1:55pm Film : Wallace and Gromit in
  The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
3:10pm Monsters vs Aliens :
  Night of the Living Carrots  (Repeat)
3:25pm Film : The BFG (Repeat)
5:15pm Pointless Celebrities (Repeat)
6:00pm BBC News
6:20pm Regional News, Weather
6:30pm The Weakest Link
7:15pm Worzel Gummidge : Twitchers
8:10pm EastEnders
9:00pm A Very British Scandal
10:00pm BBC News
10:25pm Regional News, Weather
10:35pm Match of the Day
12:00am Top Gear : Driving Home for Christmas
(Repeat)
1:05am The Great British Celebrity Sewing Bee
Christmas Special (Repeat)
2:05am Weather for the Week Ahead
2:10am BBC News

Wednesday 29th December 2021

BBC One

6:00am Breakfast
9:05am Film : Monsters University (2013)
10:40am Film : Big Hero 6 (2014)
12:15pm Bargain Hunt Music Special (Repeat)
1:00pm BBC News
1:30pm Regional News, Weather
1:40pm Film : Inside Out (2015)
3:10pm Kung Fu Panda Holiday (Repeat)
3:30pm Film : A Dog’s Journey (2019) Premiere
5:15pm Pointless Celebrities (Repeat)
6:00pm BBC News
6:20pm Regional News, Weather
6:30pm The Weakest Link
7:15pm Worzel Gummidge : Calliope Jane
8:10pm The Repair Shop (Revised Repeat)
9:00pm Film : A Star Is Born (2018) Premiere
11:10pm BBC News
11:35pm Regional News, Weather
11:45pm Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special (Repeat)
12:20am Blankety Blank Christmas Special (Repeat)
12:55am Citizen Khan (Repeat)
1:25am Superman and Lois (Repeat)
2:05am Weather for the Week Ahead
2:10am BBC News

Thursday 30th December 2021

BBC One

   6:00am Breakfast
9:05am Film : Home (2015)
10:30am Dragons: Legend of the
  Boneknapper Dragon (Repeat)
10:45am Film : Missing Link (2019)
12:15pm Bargain Hunt Entertainment Special (Repeat)
1:00pm BBC News
1:30pm Regional News, Weather
1:45pm Film : Zootropolis (2016)
3:25pm The Madagascar Penguins in
A Christmas Caper (Repeat)
3:35pm Film : The Jungle Book (2016)
5:15pm Pointless Celebrities (Repeat)
6:00pm BBC News
6:15pm Regional News, Weather
6:25pm The Weakest Link
7:10pm My Family (Repeat)
7:40pm EastEnders
8:00pm Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard
9:00pm The Great British Celebrity Sewing Bee
New Year Special
10:00pm BBC News
10:25pm Regional News, Weather
10:35pm Film : Ready Player One (2018) Premiere
12:45am Not Going Out : Resolutions (Repeat)
1:30am Weather for the Week Ahead
1:35am BBC News

  New Year’s Eve Friday 31st December 2021

BBC One

  6:00am Breakfast
9:10am Film : Captain Underpants :
the First Epic Movie (2017)
10:30am Dragons : Gift of the Night Fury (Repeat)
10:55am Film : The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
12:15pm Bargain Hunt
1:00pm BBC News
1:30pm Regional News, Weather
1:40pm Meerkat : A Dynasties Special
  (Repeat)
2:40pm Film : Coco (2017)
4:15pm Top of the Pops New Year Special
5:15pm Superman and Lois
6:00pm BBC News
6:15pm Regional News, Weather
6:25pm The Weakest Link
7:10pm EastEnders
8:00pm Question of Sport
8:30pm MasterChef : Champion of Champions
9:30pm Have I Got 2021 News for You
10:00pm BBC News, Weather
10:20pm The Graham Norton Show
New Year’s Eve Show
11:25pm The Big New Years & Years Eve Party
with Kylie and Pet Shop Boys
12:00am Happy New Year Live!
12:10am The Big New Years & Years Eve Party
  with Kylie and Pet Shop Boys
12:40am Film : I Give It a Year (2013)
2:10am Weather for the Week Ahead
2:15am BBC News

BBC Scotland (as above except)

    10:20pm Hogmanay 2021 – Preview
10:30pm Scot Squad Hogmanay Special
11:00pm Queen of the New Year
11:30pm Hogmanay 2021
12:30am The Graham Norton Show
1:35am Film : I Give It a Year (2013)
3:05am Weather for the Week Ahead
3:10am BBC News

New Year’s Day Saturday 1st January 2022

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
10.00am Saturday Kitchen
11.30am Nigellissima (Repeat)
12.00pm Football Focus
12.30pm Football Focus – Euro 2020 Review
1.00pm BBC News, Weather
1.15pm The Archbishop of Canterbury’s
New Year Message
1.20pm Attenborough and the
Mammoth Graveyard (Repeat)
2.20pm Film : The Sound of Music (1965)
5.10pm BBC News
5.20pm Regional News, Weather
5.30pm The Hit List
6.15pm The Weakest Link
7.00pm Doctor Who : Eve of the Daleks
8.00pm Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel
9.00pm The Tourist
10.00pm Mrs Brown’s Boys
10.30pm BBC News, Weather
10.45pm Match of the Day
11.45pm The NFL Show
12.15am Film : Man Up (2015)
1.40am Weather for the Week Ahead
1.45am BBC News

   Sunday 2nd January 2022

BBC One

6.00am Breakfast
8.30am Match of the Day (Repeat)
9.30am Film : How to Train Your Dragon :
Homecoming (2019)
9.55am Film : Paddington (2014)
11.20am Film : Paddington 2 (2017)
1.00pm BBC News
1.10pm Weather for the Week Ahead
1.15pm Songs of Praise
1.50pm Escape to the Country (Repeat)
2.20pm Film : Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves
(1991)
4.55pm BBC News
5.10pm Regional News, Weather
5.20pm Countryfile
6.20pm Around the World in 80 Days
7.10pm Around the World in 80 Days
8.00pm Call the Midwife
9.00pm The Tourist
10.00pm BBC News
10.20pm Regional News, Weather
10.30pm Match of the Day 2
11.50pm Film : A Star is Born (2018)
2.00am Weather for the Week Ahead
2.05am BBC News

  Bank Holiday Monday 3rd January 2022

BBC One

  6.00am Breakfast
9.00am Film : The Railway Children (1970)
10.45am The Moment of Proof
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt
1.00pm BBC News
1.15pm Regional News, Weather
1.25pm Father Brown
2.15pm The Repair Shop (Repeat)
3.00pm I Escaped to the Country
3.45pm The Farmer’s Country Showdown
4.30pm Antiques Road Trip
5.15pm Pointless
6.00pm BBC News
6.20pm Regional News, Weather
6.30pm Attenborough’s Wonder of Song
7.30pm Still Open All Hours (Repeat)
8.00pm EastEnders
8.30pm My Family (Repeat)
9.00pm Four Lives
10.00pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News, Weather
10.35pm Have I Got a Bit More 2021 News for You
  (Repeat)
11.20pm Question of Sport (Repeat)
11.50am The Graham Norton Show (Repeat)
12.55am Weather for the Week Ahead
1.00am BBC News

Saturday 18th December 2021

BBC Two

6.25am Our Wild Adventures (Repeat)
7.25am Blue Peter : Our Big Christmas Cracker!
  (Repeat)
7.55pm Film : A Christmas Story (1983)
9.25am Film : King of Kings (1961)
12.00pm Nigella’s Christmas Table (Repeat)
1.00pm Mary Berry’s Country House
at Christmas  (Repeat)
2.00pm Film : Great Expectations (1946) (b&w)
3.55pm Charles Dickens and the
Invention of Christmas (Repeat)
4.55pm Flog It! (Repeat)
5.30pm Chris & Michael
Under the Christmas Sky (Repeat)
6.30pm Film : Whisky Galore! (2016)
8.05pm The Snow Wolf : A Winter’s Tale (Repeat)
9.05pm Madonna at the BBC
10.05pm Film : Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
  11.45pm Film : Madonna : Truth or Dare (1991)
1.35am Impeachment :
  American Crime Story (Repeat)

   BBC Two Wales (as above except)

4.55pm The Man Who Took on a Mansion
  (Repeat)
5:40pm Coast (Repeat)
6:00pm Tudur’s TV Flashback (Repeat)
6:30pm Chris and Michaela :
Under the Christmas Sky (Repeat)
7:30pm Film : Whisky Galore (2016) (until 9:05pm)

  BBC Two Northern Ireland (as above except)

   5:30pm Between the Covers  (Repeat)
6:00pm The Wild Gardener (Repeat)
6:30pm Walking With… Jim Moir (Repeat)
7:00pm Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
  (until 8.05pm)

  Sunday 19th December 2021

BBC Two

6.05am Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
7.05pm Countryfile (Repeat)
8.00am Landward (Repeat)
8.30am TV Film : Falling in Love at Christmas (2021)
10.00am Saturday Kitchen Best Bites
10.30am Nadiya’s Fast Flavours (Repeat)
  12.00pm Match of the Day Live : Women’s Football
Chelsea v West Ham United
2.20pm Live Equestrian
5.00pm Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat (Repeat)
6.00pm Last Woman on Earth with Sara Pascoe
      (Repeat)
7.00pm Film : The Guernsey Literary and
Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
9.00pm Beauty and the Beast :
A Pantomime for Comic Relief
10.00pm The Ranganation Christmas Special
10.45pm Two Doors Down  Christmas Special
(Repeat)
11.15pm Inside No 9 : The Devil of Christmas
(Repeat)
11.45pm Film : The Invisible Woman (2013)
1.30am Question Time (Repeat)
2.30am Holby City (Repeat)

Monday 20th December 2021

BBC Two

6.15am Mary Berry – Love to Cook (Repeat)
6.45am Between the Covers (Repeat)
7.15am Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (Repeat)
8.15am A Very Country Christmas (Repeat)
9.15am TV Film : Heart of the Holidays (2020)
10.45am Snow Wolf Family and Me (Repeat)
11.15am Nadiya’s Party Feasts (Repeat)
12.15pm Inside the Factory Christmas 2016
(Repeat)
1.15pm Great Alaskan Railroads Journeys (Repeat)
1.45pm Film : Carousel (1956)
3.50pm Film : South Pacific (1958)
6.15pm Porridge : The Desperate Hours  (Repeat)
7.00pm Dad’s Army : Turkey Dinner (Repeat)
7.30pm Mastermind
8.00pm Only Connect
8.30pm Christmas University Challenge
9.00pm QI Christmas Special : Season’s Greetings
9.30pm Two Doors Down Christmas Special
10.00pm We Wish you a Mandy Christmas
10.20pm Motherland Christmas Special (Repeat)
10.50pm Cinderella : A Comic Relief Pantomime
for Christmas (Repeat)
11.50pm Merry Christmas Baby : with Gregory
Porter and Friends (Repeat)
12.50am Film : My Week with Marilyn (2011)
2.25am Countryfile  (Repeat)
3.20am   What We Do in the Shadows (Repeat)

  Tuesday 21st December 2021

BBC Two

6.10am MasterChef : The Professionals (Repeat)
7.10am Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (Repeat)
8.10am Lifeline (Repeat)
8.20am A Very Country Christmas (Repeat)
9.20am TV Film : Dancing Through Christmas
(2021)
10.50am Snow Wolf Family and Me (Repeat)
11.20am Nigellissima :
an Italian Inspired Christmas (Repeat)
12.20pm Inside the Factory Christmas 2017
(Repeat)
1.20pm Great Alaskan Railway Journeys (Repeat)
1.50pm Film : Doctor Zhivago (1965)
5.00pm Remarkable Places to Eat (Repeat)
6.00pm The Good Life : Silly But It’s Fun (Repeat)
6.30pm Mortimer and Whitehouse : Gone Fishing
(Repeat)
7.30pm Dad’s Army : Battle of the Giants! (Repeat)
8.30pm Christmas University Challenge
9.00pm A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver
10.00pm Impeachment : American Crime Story
  (Repeat)
11.10pm What We Do in the Shadows
11.35pm What We Do in the Shadows
12.00am What We Do in the Shadows
12.30am NFL This Week
1.20am Mary Berry’s Festive Feasts (Repeat)
2.20am Bridget Riley – Painting the Line (Repeat)
3.20am Dolly : The Sheep that
Changed the World (Repeat)

Wednesday 22nd December 2021

BBC Two

6.15am Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
  (Repeat)
7.20am  Winter : Earth’s Seasonal Secrets  (Repeat)
8.20am A Very Country Christmas (Repeat)
9.30am TV Film : Christmas a la Carte (2021)
10.50am Snow Wolf Family and Me (Repeat)
11.20am Rick Stein’s Cornish Christmas (Repeat)
11.50am  Rick Stein’s Cornish Christmas (Repeat)
12.20pm Inside the Christmas Factory 2019
(Repeat)
  1.25pm Great Alaskan Railroad Journeys (Repeat)
1.55pm Film : Kiss Me Kate (1953)
3.40pm Film : Guys and Dolls (1955)
6.05pm Dad’s Army :
For the Love of Three Oranges (Repeat)
6.40pm Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em :
Jessica’s First Christmas (Repeat)
7.30pm Christmas University Challenge
8.00pm The Hairy Bikers Go North for Christmas
9.00pm Inside the Christmas Factory
10.00pm Live at the Apollo Christmas Special
10.45pm  Secrets of the Apollo (Repeat)
11.45pm Film : Great Expectations (2012)
1.45am Villages by the Sea (Repeat)
2.15am Surgeons : At the Edge of Life (Repeat)
3.15am MasterChef : The Professionals (Repeat)
4.15am  MasterChef : The Professionals (Repeat)

Thursday 23rd December 2021

BBC Two

6.15am Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
7.15am The Polar Bear Family and Me (Repeat)
8.15am Heaven Made (Repeat)
9.15am TV Film : A Christmas to Savour (2021)
10.45am Snow Wolf Family and Me (Repeat)
11.15am Mary Berry’s Festive Feasts (Repeat)
12.15pm The Hairy Bikers Christmas Special
  (Repeat)
12.30pm Inside the Christmas Factory (Repeat)
1.30pm Great Alaskan Railroad Journeys (Repeat)
2.00pm Film : The Battle of River Plate (1956)
3.55pm Film : The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
6.05pm Upstart Crow : A Christmas Crow
(Repeat)
6.45pm Blackadder’s Christmas Carol
(Repeat)
7.30pm Christmas University Challenge
8.00pm Blackburn Sings Christmas with
Gareth Malone
9.00pm Film : Last Christmas (2019) Premiere
10.35pm Top of the Pops 1984 : Big Hits
11.35pm Elton John Christmas Concert :
Old Grey Whistle Test(Repeat)
12.40am Elton John Live in Hyde Park (Repeat)
1.40am  The Kinks Christmas Concert (Repeat)
2.40am Amazing Hotels : Life Beyond the Lobby
  (Repeat)
3.40am Strictly Come Dancing :The Final
(Repeat)


   Christmas Eve Friday 24th December 2021

BBC Two

6.20am Walking with . . . Jim Moir (Repeat)
6.50am Nadiya’s Fast Flavours (Repeat)
7.20am The Polar Bear Family and Me (Repeat)
8.20am Heaven Made (Repeat)
9.20am TV Film : Fixing Up Christmas (2021)
10.45am A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver
(Repeat)
11.15am Homes Under the Hammer
  (Repeat)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
1.05pm Great Alaskan Railroad Journeys (Repeat)
1.35pm Film : To Catch a Thief (1955)
3.20pm Film : North by Northwest (1959)
5.35pm Dad’s Army : My Brother and I (Repeat)
6.15pm Carols from King’s
7.30pm Christmas University Challenge
8.00pm Gardeners’ World
9.00pm Vienna Blood
10.30pm A Ghost Story for Christmas :
  The Mezzotint
11.00pm Film : Amazing Grace (2018)
12.30am Carole King and Friends at Christmas
  (Repeat)1.30am The Carpenters at the BBC (Repeat)
 2.05am The Hairy Bikers Go North for Christmas
  (Repeat)
3.05am Inside the Christmas Factory (Repeat)

  Christmas Day Saturday 25th December 2021

  BBC Two

   6.10am The Polar Bear Family & Me
7.10am Film : Tinker Bell and the
Legend of the NeverBeast (2014)
8.20am Malory Towers (Repeat)
8.45am Carols from King’s (Repeat)
10.00am Gangsta Granny (Repeat)
11.10am Film : Casablanca (1942)
12.50pm Film : Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
2.40pm  Marvellous Musicals : Talking Pictures
  (Repeat)
3.10pm The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook
(Repeat)
3.40pm The Two Ronnies : The Studio Recordings
(Repeat)
4.10pm Quentin Blake – The Drawing of My Life
5.10pm The Queen (Repeat)
5.20pm Film : The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938)
7.00pm The Morecambe and Wise
Christmas Show 1971 (Repeat)
7.45pm The Morecambe and Wise Show 1970 :
The Lost Tape (Repeat)
8.35pm A Musical Family Christmas
with the Kanneh-Masons
9.35pm Film : Pavarotti (2019) Premiere
11.30pm Pavarotti in Hyde Park (Repeat)
1.05am Beauty and the Beast –
A Pantomime for Comic Relief (Repeat)
2.05am Impeachment: American Crime Story
  (Repeat)
3:15am What We Do in the Shadows (Repeat)
3:40am What We Do in the Shadows (Repeat)
4:05am What We Do in the Shadows (Repeat)

Boxing Day Sunday 26th December 2021

BBC Two

6:45am Film : Mary Poppins Returns (2019)
8:45am Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
9:45am Countryfile at Christmas (Repeat)
10:40am Saturday Kitchen Best Bites
12:10pm The Great Food Guys Hogmanay Special
  (Repeat)
12:40pm Film : Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
2:20pm Film : Some Like It Hot (1959)
4:20pm Final Score
5:20pm The Two Ronnies : Christmas Night
  with the Two Ronnies 1987 (Repeat)
6:10pm The Perfect Morecambe & Wise
  Christmas Special (Repeat)
6:40pm Anything Goes : The Musical
9:00pm Mortimer & Whitehouse :
Gone Christmas Fishing
10:00pm Adele : The BBC Sessions
11:00pm Tina Live! (Repeat)
1:10am Film : Mr Holmes (2015)
2:50am Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special
  (Repeat)

Bank Holiday Monday 27th December 2021

BBC Two

  6:15am Mary Berry – Love to Cook (Repeat)
6:45am Between the Covers (Repeat)
7:15am North America : Our Wild Adventures (Repeat)
8:15am Cheetah Family & Me (Repeat)
9:15am Talking Pictures : Musicals (Repeat)
10:05am Film : A Star Is Born (1954)
12:55pm Doris Day – Virgin Territory (Repeat)
1:55pm Film : Calamity Jane (1953)
3:35pm West Side Stories – The Making of a Classic
(Repeat)
4:35pm Film : West Side Story (1961)
7:00pm The Hairy Bikers Go North Christmas
  (Repeat)
8:00pm Only Connect Christmas Special
8:30pm Christmas University Challenge
9:00pm Film : Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
11:30pm Film : Highlander (1986)
1:25am Film : Last Christmas (2019)
3:00am Countryfile at Christmas (Repeat)




  Bank Holiday Tuesday 28th December 2021

BBC Two

      6:45am MasterChef : The Professionals (Repeat)
  7:45am The Frozen North : Our Wild Adventures
   (Repeat)
8:45am Cheetah Family & Me (Repeat)
9:45am Film : Suspicion (1941)
11:25am Film : Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
1:20pm Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond
the Lobby Christmas Special  (Repeat)
2:20pm Talking Pictures : Agatha Christie (Repeat)
2:50pm Film : Evil under the Sun (1982)
4:45pm Death on the Nile (1978)
7:00pm Inside the Factory (Repeat)
8:00pm Only Connect Special
8:30pm Christmas University Challenge
9:00pm Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
10:00pm Mock the Week End of Year Special
10:35pm Joanna and Jennifer : Absolutely Champers
(Repeat)
11:35pm Absolutely Fabulous : Cold Turkey (Repeat)
12:15am NFL This Week
1:05am Mortimer & Whitehouse :
Gone Christmas Fishing  (Repeat)
2:05am Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle
  (Repeat)



    Wednesday 29th December 2021

BBC Two

6:40am See Hear
7:10am Villages by the Sea (Repeat)
7:40am Waterhole : Africa’s Animal Oasis (Repeat)
8:40am Bringing Up Baby (Repeat)
10:20am Film : The Nun’s Story (1959)
12:50pm The Best Dishes Ever (Repeat)
1:20pm Amazing Hotels : Life Beyond the Lobby
(Repeat)
2:20pm Talking Pictures : Sean Connery (Repeat)
3:10pm Film : The First Great Train Robbery (1978)
4:55pm Film : Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
7:00pm Wild Tales from the Village (Repeat)
8:00pm Only Connect Special
8:30pm Christmas University Challenge
9:00pm Inside the Factory XL : Diggers
10:00pm Frankie Boyle’s New 2021 World Order
10:45pm Frankie Boyle’s New World Order Unseen
11:20pm Lady Gaga at the BBC
12:20am Mock the Week
End of Year Special (Repeat)
12:55am Film : Absolutely Fabulous :
The Movie (2016)
2:20am See Hear (Repeat)
2:50am Surgeons: At the Edge of Life (Repeat)
3:50am MasterChef: The Professionals (Repeat)

Thursday 30th December 2021

BBC Two

      6:45am Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
7:45am Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis (Repeat)
8:45am Talking Pictures : War Films (Repeat)
9:35am Film : Dunkirk (1958)
11:45am Film : Reach for the Sky (1956)
2:00pm Talking Pictures : Anthony Hopkins
(Repeat)
2:45pm Film : Shadowlands (1993)
4:50pm Film : The Remains of the Day (1993)
7:00pm Mortimer & Whitehouse :
  Gone Christmas Fishing  (Repeat)
8:00pm Only Connect Special
8:30pm Christmas University Challenge
9:00pm Film : Judy (2019)  Premiere
10:50pm Being Bridget Jones (Repeat)
11:50pm Eddie Izzard: Force Majeure (Repeat)
1:20am Film : Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa (2013)
2:45am Nadiya’s Fast Flavours (Repeat)
3:15am Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
  (Repeat)
4:15am MasterChef: The Professionals (Repeat)

New Year’s Eve Friday 31st December 2021

BBC Two

  6:20am Sort Your Life Out (Repeat)
7:20am Waterhole : Africa’s Animal Oasis (Repeat)
8:25am Talking Pictures : Sophia Loren (Repeat)
8:55am Film : El Cid (1961)
11:50am Talking Pictures : Judi Dench (Repeat)
12:30pm Film : Jane Eyre (Repeat)
2:20pm Film : Tea with Mussolini (1999)
4:15pm Nothing Like a Dame (Repeat)
5:35pm Musicals : The Greatest Show (Repeat)
6:55pm Film : Dad’s Army (1971)
8:30pm Christmas University Challenge
9:00pm Film : The Aftermath (2019) Premiere
10:40pm Live at the Apollo Christmas Special
(Repeat)
11:25pm Jools’ Annual Hootenanny
1:25am Legends of Glastonbury
  (Repeat)

  New Year’s Day Saturday 1st January 2022

BBC Two

6.25am The Dengineers (Repeat)
6.55am All Over the Place (Repeat)
7.25am Blue Peter (Repeat)
7.55am Film : Strange Magic (2015)
9.25am Malory Towers (Repeat)
9.50am Malory Towers (Repeat)
10.15am New Year’s Day Concert : Live from
Vienna 2022
12.40pm Film : She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
2.25pm Wild West : America’s Great Frontier
3.25pm Inside the Factory (Repeat)
4.25pm  The Archbishop of Canterbury’s
New Year Message
4.30pm Final Score
5.15pm Flog It!
6.00pm Film : Porridge (1979)
7.30pm My Hero : Hugh Dennis on Ronnie Barker
(Repeat)
8.30pm The Perfect Morecambe and Wise (Repeat)
9.00pm This is Joan Collins
10.30pm Film : Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
11.00pm My Generation (Repeat)
12.20am TOTP2 : The 60s (Repeat)
12.50am Film : A Town Like Alice (1956)

Sunday 2nd January 2022

BBC Two

6.30am A-Z of TV Gardening (Repeat)
7.15am Life in a Cottage Garden with Carol Klein
  (Repeat)
7.45am Gardeners’ World (Repeat)
8.45am Countryfile (Repeat)
9.40am Beechgrove
10.10am Saturday Kitchen Best Bites
11.40am Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking (Repeat)
12.10pm  Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby
(Repeat)
1.15pm Talking Pictures : Michael Caine (Repeat)
  2.05pm Film : The Ipcress File (1965)
3.50pm Film : The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
6.00pm Earth’s Tropical Islands : Madagascar
  (Repeat)
7.00pm Antiques Roadshow (Repeat)
8.00pm Ski Sunday
9.00pm Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
10.55pm Frankie Boyle’s New World Order
11.40pm  Paddy and Christine McGuinness :
Our Family and Autism (Repeat)
12.40am Doctor Who : Eve of the Daleks



  Bank Holiday Monday 3rd January 2022

BBC Two

  6.35am Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
7.20am Bargain Hunt (Repeat)
8.05am Inside the Factory : Diggers (Repeat)
9.05am The Wonder of Animals (Repeat)
9.35am Film : Odette (1950)
11.30am Film : The Wooden Horse (1950)
1.10pm Talking Pictures : War Stories (Repeat)
1.55pm Film : The Train (1964)
4.05pm Film : Operation Crossbow (1965)
6.00pm Richard Osman’s House of Games (Repeat)
6.30pm Rick Stein’s Cornwall (Repeat)
7.00pm Tom Kerridge’s Fresh Start (Repeat)
7.30pm Mastermind
8.00pm Only Connect
8.30pm University Challenge
9.00pm Inside Dubai : Playground of the Rich
10.00pm Film : The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
11.30pm Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (Repeat)
12.05am Countryfile (Repeat)
1.00am Zara McDermott : Uncovering Rape Culture
  (Repeat)
2.00am Take a Hike (Repeat)

Michael Willis, co-CEO at Marmalade Game Studio, said: “Watching TV over Christmas as a family is one of the highlights of the festive season, but with so many repeats being aired, it can be easy to become bored. Playing board games can be a great way to tackle this and bring families together.
“We have recently introduced a new Bubble feature, which more than a million families have signed up to, helping people stay in touch by video chat, allowing gamers to add friends and family to group chats, start games from these, and video chat whilst playing.”

Marmalade Game Studio research** in November before the Omicron variant sparked renewed fears about the spread of COVID-19 found nearly six out of 10 adults (57%) expect to be playing a board game during the Christmas season this year with Monopoly or Scrabble the most likely to be played.

Average spending on a new board game will be around £22 ($37.88 CAD), the study found, with 828,000 people expecting to spend £50 ($86.08 CAD) or more on board games for the festive period.
Digital gaming has surged in popularity and over the period of the lockdowns Marmalade Game Studio estimates downloads have increased 144% in total compared with the previous 18 months.

Marmalade Game Studio is the UK’s leading digital board game publisher, and it recently secured a £22.5 million ($38.74 million CAD) investment from private equity firm LDC to support recruitment and the development of new games, has seen revenues more than double in the last three years.
Marmalade Game Studio, which has offices in London and Lisbon, has managed to boost staff numbers from 28 to 65 while its range of games which includes Monopoly and Cluedo has expanded from 3 to 10 titles with more planned.

Reviews

Groove Life Silicon Rings Are For Modern Living

November 22, 2021 The Silo 3 Comments

Traditional metal rings are uncomfortable, costly to replace or repair and can lead to serious injury of caught on rocks, wires or other objects – turning a fun day into a medical emergency in minutes.

Instead of worrying about losing or damaging expensive, meaningful jewelry, let Groove Life provide a peace of mind with the Groove Ring. The Groove Ring features a comfort fit band made from low profile, flexible silicone that’s been imprinted with their patent-pending inner grooves. These grooves allow proper airflow, keeping moisture out and comfort front and center.

The Groove Ring is a revolutionary new accessory for the active user who wants to do it all without worrying about losing a finger or prized possessions.

Backed with a lifetime warranty, the Groove Ring provides breathe-ability, flexibility, safety, security and style.

Offered in a variety of colors, sizes and styles the Groove Ring is the perfect accessory for all. Leave your worries behind while planning your next great adventure with the Groove Ring. For the Silo, Katie Lapinski.

Gaming

How The Online Casino Differs From The Offline Casino

October 18, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

The days are gone when people had to travel to different places in order to experience casino jest.

There are many casino games available online. With the help of technologies like artificial intelligence, we can have a realistic experience of playing online casino games. But, some people still like to go to traditional ground casinos.

Image: Pixabay

You must have often wondered which one is the best and safest. If you are also curious to know the difference between online and offline casino games, this article is a must-read for you.

Which is more secure?

From the security point of view, both online and offline casino gambling are equally safe. However, you need to be quite cautious while choosing to play online casino gambling since there are several gambling malicious websites claiming to be genuine.

It is advisable, especially for the newbie gamers, to do thorough research using reliable platforms like https://onlinecasinofans.com/. The users should choose the casino on the basis of the feedback, ratings, speed, feasibility, and compatibility of the game with their device.

If properly surveyed, you can find the best online casinos, which are even more secure than the traditional ground casinos.

Which one is more reachable?

We live in an era of technologies and globalization. Hence, we are able to access everything with the help of the internet. As aforementioned, there are many online casino games available that have increased their reachability.

It can be a tedious task for you to find spare time for offline gambling.

Whereas, you can easily play these games, sitting comfortably on your sofa couch.

Isn’t that awesome?

Which is more convenient?

If you are a busy bee and can’t find time from your hectic schedule, online casinos can prove to be more convenient.

Many of the good websites also offer trial games. They are totally free, and you can have a gaming experience similar to real casinos. No such option is available in offline casinos.

On the other hand, if you are a partygoer and have a ground casino available near your place, just go for it.

Which one has a better payout?

The opportunity of winning numerous bonuses and credits offered by online casinos attracts a lot of players.

In terms of cash deposit and withdrawal, offline gambling is better since you can cash your winnings immediately in traditional gaming. However, you need to be patient in online gaming.

Which one has the better ambiance?

No online casino can beat the zest of playing traditional ground casinos. Although you can access online casinos easily, the playing ambiance is confined.

If you go for offline gambling, it is surely going to be a fun experience for you. You will get an opportunity to interact with new people, make new friends, and learn from experienced strata of gamers.

Image: Pixabay

Conclusion

No doubt, online casinos are a step ahead of offline casinos in terms of many factors. However, it totally depends upon your choice and compatibility with the particular platform.

Reviews

Arctic Blue Carbonator Able to Carbonate ANY Beverage

October 12, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

Ann Arbor, MI – Drinkmate , a leader in the home carbonation category, has expanded their innovative line of home carbonating systems to include a new Arctic Blue model- sure to spice up any countertop.

More than a home soda maker

Carbonated beverage lovers can now add a pop of blue to their kitchens while enjoying healthier drinks from carbonated water to juice, and even cocktails. The new Arctic Blue color is a soft, pure, breezy bay blue with a twilight blue undertone. The perfect compliment to any kitchen, Drinkmate enables users to add personality with the new 2021 color expansion. The Arctic Blue home carbonator joins the existing color line that includes black, red, and white models.

Easy Hook up

Drinkmate’s countertop unit is one of the leading home carbonation systems available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Its proprietary technology allows consumers to carbonate any kind of beverage safely and quickly.

Carbonate ANY kind of beverage

“We’re excited to offer carbonated beverage lovers with our new Arctic Blue model,” said Douglas Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Drinkmate.
“It’s always been part of our mission to provide aesthetically pleasing units that don’t distract from our consumers’ decorating style. With the Arctic Blue expansion, they can now choose a pop of bright color to represent their unique personality.”

The new Drinkmate Arctic Blue carbonator is available online at Drinkmate.us and coming to other major retailers throughout North America later this year. MSRP $99.95 usd.

About Drinkmate

Drinkmate’s mission is to allow consumers to get creative in discovering new beverages, drink healthier and have fun, while reducing plastic bottle waste. Its proprietary technology allows the consumer to carbonate any kind of beverage safely and quickly. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the company serves as the global headquarters for the Drinkmate brand with operations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. For more information, please visit www.Drinkmate.us.

Gaming

Minecraft is most malware infected game

October 8, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

228k Users Affected, Are You One Of Them?

As people are looking for ways to unwind at home, the gaming industry has been one of the primary places people set their eyes on. Not only is it a way to entertain yourself for hours on end, but it is also a place for people to connect, which is otherwise hard to do during the pandemic.

According to data presented by the Atlas VPN team, 303,827 individuals’ devices were affected by gaming-related malware and unwanted software between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Mobile games are also a major threat for gamers.

As many as 50,644 users attempted to download 10,488 unique files disguised as the ten most-played mobile games, generating a total of 332,570 detections. Minecraft was by far the most popular game on both PC and mobile platforms for dangerous app distributors to hide behind. On PC, nearly 185 thousand users were affected with over 3 million malware and unwanted software detections.

On mobile, the number of victims exceeds 44 thousand for the period.

Unwanted software includes files like adware, spyware, and so on. There are various versions of Minecraft and a plethora of mods (modifications that may be placed on top of the basic game to diversify gameplay) may account for its enormous popularity. Because mods are unofficial and developed by users, they can be used to hide dangerous payloads or undesirable software.

Security tips for gamers

Protect your accounts with two-factor authentication (2-FA) whenever possible.
Use strong passwords for your accounts, with a different one for each. That way, even if one of your accounts is compromised, the remainder will remain unaffected.
Downloading games from official retailers such as Steam, Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore is safer. These marketplaces aren’t completely safe, but they are at least examined by store staff, and there is some sort of screening procedure in place: not every app is allowed into these stores.
If you want to buy a game that isn’t accessible in major stores, you should do it through the official website. Make sure to double-check the website’s URL to avoid impostor sites.
Be cautious of phishing campaigns and unfamiliar players. If you are unsure about the sender, do not open links you receive via email or in a gaming chat. Do not open files sent to you by strangers.

Another one of the most well-known game titles worldwide, The Sims 4, was the second most often used title to distribute unwanted files. Over 43 thousand users were impacted, with detections closing in on 1.3 million. For the Silo, Valentina Perez.