Final Fantasy VII re-release now available on PC!

Box art of FF7About time! Earlier today, PEGI’s website lists a release date of August 14 2012, which is….yes, today!

Available from the Square Enix store, the RPG classic returns to PC, now with brand new online features.

On top of that, the remake re-release offers the following features:

  • Achievements – Whether you´re a seasoned FINAL FANTASY VII veteran or exploring this RPG classic for the very first time, show off your in-game accomplishments and put your gaming skills to the test with 36 brand new achievements to unlock. Share your profile with friends online to find out who is the ultimate FINAL FANTASY fan.
  • Cloud Saves (no, not “Cloud” Saves) – If you´re away from home or simply using a different computer to play, enjoy FINAL FANTASY VII wherever you are. With cloud save support in FINAL FANTASY VII you can continue your game progress right where you left off (Requires Internet Connection).
  • Character Booster – Find yourself stuck on a difficult section or lacking the funds to buy that vital Phoenix Down? With the Character Booster you can increase your HP, MP and Gil levels to their maximum, all with the simple click of a button, leaving you to enjoy your adventure.
  • Optimized for PC – FINAL FANTASY VII has been updated to support the latest hardware and Windows Operating Systems.

The game will set you back £7.99 and is available on the Square Enix store here.

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Visit Lincolnshire relaunched!

I am very pleased to announce that we just relaunched the Visit Lincolnshire website!

The website features beautiful imagery and content about festivals, activities, accommodation and things to do in and around Lincolnshire.

This website was built using NVG‘s modular CMS Pro.

visit Lincolnshire screenshot

Click here to visit the visitlincolnshire.com website

Good times! 🙂

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I use cookies…

As you may have seen when you arrived here today, there is a little (annoying) notification on top of the screen informing you that I use cookies on this website.

Aside from PHPSession cookies, I use Google Analytics for research and use journeys and AddThis for sharing my content I also use WordPress Jetpack which creates a cookie to track users in a similar fashion as Google Analytics I believe. More information about cookies can be found here.

My Devon – iPhone / iPad app released! (Android version coming soon!)

My Devon iphone app iconWe have just released the My Devon app!

My Devon is a comprehensive guide to things to do, events, shopping, attractions, eating out and where to stay across North Devon and Exmoor. The data is fully cached on the phone so you don’t need a signal to use it.

My Devon allows you to plan a day out or see ‘what’s nearby’ when out and about. The search functionality allows you to:

  • Choose an area
  • Search near a town
  • Search near your current location
  • Drop a pin
  • Filter the data

Each entry describes the attraction with pictures, opening times and full contact details, and if you’re looking for accommodation it even allows you to book!

If that is not enough, you can also add places to your favourites, email places of interest to your friends, and a quick link shows directions from your current location by car or on foot.

Screenshot:

my devon iphone and ipad app screenshots

Currently displaying content for North Devon and Exmoor, My Devon will shortly be expanding to include Devon wide content which you automatically receive free on the app!

download icon Download the My Devon app here (it is free!)

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LoveSussex.com is live!

I am very pleased to announce that we launched the LoveSussex.com website today!

The website features beautiful imagery and content about things to do in Sussex, which is only an hour away from London. Be it culture, seaside, hertiage or countryside, the website offers something for everyone!

This website was designed by yours truly, and is built using NVG‘s modular CMS Pro.

 Click here to visit the LoveSussex.com website

Happy days 🙂

Alex’s Mum’s Pizza Dough Recipe

pizza dough
This is the pizza dough - I have added some Rosemary and Oregano to the dough for a bit of an extra kick 🙂

And now for something completely different:

Since so many people asked for the recipe, here goes: this is my mum’s recipe, which makes me extra proud as it has turned out to be an amazing feast whenever I made it.As you can see from the picture, this is how much pizza this recipe makes, so feel free to adjust 🙂

 

Ingredients:

  • 300 g quark (normally located in the soft cheese aisle as 250g packs)
  • 12 TBSP milk
  • 12 TBSP olive oil (plus extra if dough is too dry while mixing)
  • pinch of salt
  • 600 g strong flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

 

Procedure:

  1. Sift the flour into a bowl or (preferably) mixer; add half the flour, then add half the Quark, milk, baking powder and oil, add the rest (makes it easier to mix then)
  2. Mix everything, adding more oil if the dough is still a bit stringy or doesn’t easily form into a ball. It doesn’t matter how much more oil you use, at the end of the day you’ll be using less for the tray or whatever you’ll be using to bake the dough
  3. Place the dough into tin foil and into the fridge for at least 20 minutes before reusing it again.

 

Personal notes:

If you want a bit more of a kick to the dough, just add 2 tbsp of crushed Rosemary and Oregano to the dough, and instead of just olive oil replace the 12 TBSP with 8 TBSP of olive oil and 4 TBSP of infused olive oil (e.g. chilli oil, garlic oil, basil oil, etc).

Brands are tapping into the potential of targeting communities – and so can you!

social media icons

In my second post on the subject of Brands monitoring and making best use of social networks I will focus on your target audiences, and in particular communities or niche markets that are already active in social media. As a company, brand or destination you might feel that you’re only just starting to dabble in social media, whereas your audience has already a much better understanding and might to take you seriously, but fret not! There is more to social media than just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!

What (and who!) do you want to target?

To begin with, let’s have a quick look at the following table:

Social Media marketing chart

This chart is really just meant as a guide, but it is one many of my clients have used over the past years. It focuses on the difference between the sharing / syndication strength of the network in relation to the importance (in terms of time and resources) to your brand / destination. The key point here is that there isn’t only Facebook, LinkedIn or twitter – there are a lot more networks out there your audiences might be interacting with.

This graph may look daunting at first, as you might assume you will have a lot of resource to throw at this, but just stand back and think about this… Keep Reading

Why monitoring your brand on social networks is important

social media iconsA few months ago I gave a talk in London about the use of social media for travel and tourism industries, which I think was very well received (considering I received no complaints but follow-up questions I take that as successful), and one of the key questions that was asked a couple of times was – should brands monitor what is being said about them? Why should they? Is it worth the effort? What do you focus on? How would this be monitored? And more importantly, is there an ROI to be taken from this? So, I thought I’d begin a little set of articles about this.

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Why monitor your brand on social networks?

Before we answer this, let’s take back a step and talk about what we are actually talking about. Monitoring your brand is essentially the continuous discovery of conversations related to your brand with the purpose of engaging and supporting not only your brand, but also your (in many cases potential) customers. Typically, this is done in real-time to allow immediate response to particular topics or situations, e.g. when launching a product, quelling rumours or – just as often – providing support or advice. Keep Reading