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The Financial Times
by Seven17
I tend to buy the financial times when a big financial story breaks, as i can usually trust the journalism from the FT to be accurate and informative. Last week was Budget Day 2013, and so I decided to buy a copy.
The financial times has long been a source of information for share holders, day traders and the like. It's often ... referred to as "the pink'un" because of it's salmon colour. The reason for this is that it was cheaper to print in this colour rather than white when it first started out as a paper. This paper costs £2.50 as of March 2013 on the weekdays and this makes it the most expensive paper in Britain. It is also broadsheet.
The journalism is excellent, the stories are well written and have a high reading age which fits well with the financial jargon which appears mostly in the Lex and front page stories. If you don't know how to read the financial times then you can always buy the FT published book on how to use the financial pages. Yes, this newspaper requires an instruction manual.
The FT is an essential daily brief for investors and for shareholders alike. I personally enjoy reading the weekend edition but I mainly buy it to read the stories about budgets and banking reforms. I find the information provided by the FT accurate and whilst I don't spot any faults with it, it can be a little dry when you get into the thick of it.
Being all about information is good but it's mainly aimed at hardcore investors and focuses more on the business side of things rather than personal finance. Sure most people who read the FT want business news but it would be good for me if they covered the penny off the pint in a bit more detail as reading it the other day felt like they skimmed over the subject.
But it's not all about the finance, sometimes they do stories about North Korea and their nuclear ambitions with many different aspects to look at that papers like The Sun or Daily Mail don't touch. Their newspapers at the weekend also have extensive coverage of arts and lifestyle, and even a food column. It's the financial paper for "people who want to unwind at the weekend, but don't want to switch off" and I completely agree, whilst there's not much finance at the weekend there are subjects which the readers of the FT will be interested in, and it even covers food.
Overall this is a great paper, it's informative and reliable but a little more on personal finance and coverage of the finer details of the budget make me want to knock a star off. I would certainly buy it a bit more often if it covered the personal side of things a little more in depth, but no paper is perfect i guess.
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Moshi Monster Magazine
by mickr
Moshi Monster Magazine
My little one absolutely loves Moshi Monsters, a craze that began online and has now grown immensely world wide, with Moshi clothing, accessories, merchandise, toys and so much more. Now I do not profess to know everything about Moshi Monsters, though my little one certainly thinks she does! She is ... obsessed with the unusual looking little creatures!
Although I thought that maybe she was too young for the magazine, she was desperate to have it. She has a star chart when she does things like tidying her room, so when she reached a certain amount, I let her choose her own magazine and surprise, surprise, she chose the Moshi Monster magazine. I still stick by that it is too young for her, though she has chosen it a few times and loves looking through it.
I am using issue number 25 as a basis for this review.
The glossy cover varies, though it is not the most fetching cover ever seen, though it is eye catching to fans of this craze. It is a 50 page magazine which is a good length and is only £2.99 which is cheaper than most magazines. It also comes with a number of free gifts, and usually they seem to be along the same lines such as some Moshi sweets, mash up cards, online codes and such like.
Inside the magazine is what you might expect to see in a childrens magazine, though obviously all Moshi related. You generally get the following;
Daily Growl: Moshi Monster news and competitions
Moshling pictures sent from children online as well as Moshi Fan photos
Posters
Cooking pages
Information about certain Moshi Monsters
Quizzes and challenges
Comic strips and other stories
Puzzles which match those found on the online game site
Giveaways
Craft pages (though not many)
How to draw Moshlings
Jokes
There are also a certain amount of advertising for Moshi Monster items and online goodies though it is not an overabundance.
In my opinion, although the magazine is a little too old for my five year old, it is still a fantastic magazine for youngsters and it has a lot of things to do to keep them entertained. My little one does find a lot to do, though I have to read the stories and help out with the puzzle pages, though this is not a bad thing - it keeps up both entertained for quite a while!
My little one absolutely loves it, even though some bits are aimed at older children. I don't suppose Ill be buying Peppa Pig magazine again now. They grow up so fast!
Recommended!
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Cross Stitch Collection
by NUDUL
This is a lovely magazine that comes out 13 times a year at a price of £4.99 an issue or you can purchase a subscription for £53.99. It is a sister magazine to Cross Stitcher. The magazine contains a number of 'advanced' charts aimed at the experienced stitcher and features designs by well known designers such as Joan Elliott who has ... done entire series for the publication. As well as the designs, large and small, there are also regular features such as a 'write to us' page, competitions, Jane Greenoff's page, a making up page and many other bits and pieces such as what's new right now.
The designs in the magazine are normally aimed at the older stitcher or the stitcher that doesn't really like the 'cute and cuddly' designs and would prefer to do something a little more homely. That said, they do have little charts for cards and things such as that as well. Some charts are expected to take just a couple of hours, whereas others have an expected completion time of upwards of 100 hours. The charts include full cross stitch, back stitch, half and fractional stitches, French knots, the use of beads and specialist stitches and numerous making up ideas with full instructions. As well as the full colour chart, each one comes with a colour key with stranded threads in DMC, Anchor and Maderia codes so you can stitch using your favourite brand.
I would recommend this magazine to any advanced stitcher who is looking for new charts without having to buy a kit, especially if you have a large cross stitching stash already.
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