CHVRCHES is a name that I’d heard many times, even passing up the fleeting opportunity to see them earlier this year, before I’d actually heard any of their music. They are a Glaswegian synthpop band, so naturally something I’d quite like. The trigger for looking them up, and then subsequently downloading their whole debut album The Bones of What You Believe, was a few favourable mentions in Pitchfork’s Top 100 songs of 2013, an annual guide which I always pay close attention to. The fact — Read more →
It’s perhaps an unusual concept to some – the idea that people would like to, and even rather, watch others play a video game on the internet than play themselves – but with the simultaneous growth of YouTube and the launch of the HD generation of games consoles, that’s exactly what millions of people, myself included, began to do. From being a novelty in the early days, back in 2006/07, it has become a livelihood for many of the most successful Youtubers because of advertising — Read more →
Chances are that you’ve never heard of search engine optimisation, or SEO as it’s more commonly known. But behind every Google search (or Bing if you’re into it), there is a dark art of bringing up the most relevant of trillions of webpages for your query. This dark art is SEO. I’ve had some experience in the discipline, working for a website-based company for almost a year (split over summers) and I’m going to explain, in basic terms, what it is, why it exists and — Read more →
It’s been a rather slow year for games this year. Amidst the excitement of GTA V, and of course the new consoles being launched, there hasn’t been a slew of exciting games to play in 2013. This may please people’s wallets, but it’s not been the best for gamers looking for a great new experience. 2014 might well change all that. Next year will see the first real heavyweights on the PS4 and Xbox One, as well as a few good titles for the last — Read more →
There has been widespread consternation at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’s move to increase MPs salary 11% up to £74,000 for the next Parliamentary election. I don’t think many people could justify such a massive pay rise in the current economic climate – especially in a week where our Chancellor is introducing billions of pounds worth of public service cuts and planning to raise the pension age earlier than previously planned. It’s always going to be a thorny issue; how much we pay the Members — Read more →
