kroniq reviews

Rexona Men Anti-Perspirant Deodorant

One thing that most of us use every day is deodorant. We all usually stick with a specific brand but every now and then we might try something different for one reason or another. I have to admit that most of my life I had been set in using one particular brand but decided to try another to see if it was any better. I have since changed my shopping habits and now find myself buying Rexona Men and below is why.

It works. I can get up to a lot during the day, exercise, stress, exposed to hot environments and with this often comes perspiration. Some days are more intensive than others, but since using Rexona I have never experienced perspiration or undue smells which might have occurred with other brands.

Application-wise, it’s what I like in an antiperspirant deodorant. I can’t stand roll-on’s and I don’t like the sprays which feel like they blow dry powder under your arms. This spray has a slightly wetter feeling application so you know you have applied it.

Rexona comes in many different fragrances and some are better than others, they are all OK but not as good as another particular brand I used to use.

I don’t really consider the cost as deodorant for me is an essential item. What I do consider though is how often I have to buy the product. Rexona is packaged in 250ml cans but this should last you several weeks with normal use.

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Fruit Ninja

I find myself downloading and playing lots of games on my iPhone. I spend more time playing games on an iPhone than a computer, games console or even the old fashion take it out of a box and discover the dice are missing type of game. However with all this time spent playing, only the good games will hold me for any length of time and keep me coming back for more. Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick Studios almost had me.

We will start with the big one, gameplay. It’s a simple concept that anybody can understand, fruit gets thrown up into the air and you have to swipe it in half. They make it tricky by adding in a few bombs which kill you straight away, otherwise you are allowed to miss three pieces of fruit. That’s it – if you wanted more, you won’t find here. This makes for a quick game to play when you don’t have too much time. You might find yourself playing a couple of games but will tire after a few goes.

Replay value is also limited. Your primary objective is to beat your high score. There is a global leader board system using the OpenFeint platform, but nothing else. OK, there might be a few unlock-able achievements but don’t expect to be overwhelmed.

Quality-wise this game does have a bit of polish. The sounds are awesome – almost the best reason to buy the game. Both the effects and subtle background noise are enticing. Visually the game is good too. The fruit, splashes and swipes all look fine and not much improving can be done here.

The cost of the game is where you want it. At $1.29 you can justify the spend. It’s not worth much more because of the simplicity of the app and lack of replay value, but the developers definitely deserve something for putting together a fun polished application.

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Oakley GASCAN Sunglasses

I’m a big fan of sunglasses, I wear them every day. I make a point of not leaving home without them, as anybody in New Zealand knows, the weather can change in a heartbeat, so you don’t want to be caught out squinting in the sun… especially if you are driving!

I was in need of a new pair of sunglasses and was lucky enough to receive them as a gift.

My pair of GASCAN’s have a transparent crystal black frame with black iridium lenses. They look great on most people as they don’t have any outrageous features, just a sleek square straight look.

The are comfortable to wear, but occasionally slip forward if you are doing anything which involves a bit of extra movement, so can’t recommend wearing these if you are playing sports. They are suitable for wearing over a long periods of time without any discomfort.

The lenses are fine. I switched from yellow tinted lenses to these darker ones, so it was a bit different initially but it didn’t take long to adjust. They remove all the glare and keep everything nice and sharp. After several months I still don’t have any scratches but I do take care of them. They clean easily with a dry cloth.

The overall construction of them is solid. The hinges feel like they will last the life of the product and the arms are wide so have plenty of strength.

I can’t comment on the price as they were a gift, but most Oakley sunglasses will set you back a couple of hundred dollars. This is about average for a brand name pair of sunglasses.

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Red Bull Energy Shot

I drink my fair share of energy drinks and have to admit that Red Bull is not my first choice when faced with a purchasing decision. That decision however was taken out of my hands last night as I was given a free bottle of Red Bull Energy Shot.

The Energy Shot is a 60ml bottle of concentrated, non-carbonated Red Bull. You can put the entire contents of the bottle into your mouth in one quick gulp, hence it being a “shot” – good for a quick fix, not so much if you want to savor the flavor. It turned out that was a good thing, the drink tastes awful. I often hear the taste of Red Bull being compared with medicine, but on this occasion I would have preferred the medicine. I don’t know if it was because it’s concentrated or the lack of bubbles, but it didn’t leave any nice before, during or aftertaste. While I am not a huge fan of their original drink, it does taste better than this version.

Did it have an effect? Red Bull have all sorts of wild claims about what their drink will do for you, sadly I didn’t really feel any difference whatsoever.

As I mentioned earlier I got this drink free, but normally you would expect to pay $3.99 at your local supermarket which is slightly more expensive than their 355ml can.

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Indoor Cricket

Since moving to Auckland I have played a variety of indoor sports (football, netball, cricket etc..) and at various venues so I feel I have reasonable experience as to what a venue can offer. Action Indoor Sports has many locations but I will be reviewing the one on Dominion Rd.

First off, location. It’s located on a main road so is pretty easy to find. It’s tucked behind a Caltex petrol station, so if you know that you will have no troubles finding it. It shares a car park with an Asian supermarket which is both good and bad. If you have an early game, you might find yourself competing for parks, however anything after 7pm and you have more than enough car parks to choose from.

The facilities are excellent. The 4 available courts are well maintained. Since I have been playing there they have re-turfed the floor and replaced the nets. There is plenty of seating for spectators and players, plus they have extra seating in front of a large projector screen which always plays Sky Sports when a game is on. They sell beer as well as other refreshments and snacks.

The staff are always cheerful and seem genuinely happy to be working there. They provide umpires and referees for the games, and as with all officials at any level of the game they can make decisions which you might not feel are correct, but overall they are knowledgeable and usually consistent and fair.

The organisation of the sports are excellent. They provide a website which lists your game times and which court for the whole season. You are also able to view the ladder and past results. The games run on time every time. At the end of the season the top 4 teams play off for prizes. The winning teams then get to choose from trophies, bar tabs or t-shirts.

Most teams which play at this venue continue to return each season, and that speaks for itself.

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The MySkyHDi DVR and remote.

This isn’t exactly a new product or service, but it is one which I have only been using for a couple of months, so it is still new for me.

Lets start with the price. The cost of buying a digital video recorder (DVR) varies depending on what features it has, all of the MySky HDi decoders are the same – 4 tuners and a 320GB hard drive. They charge either a one off fee ($599) or a monthly fee ($15), either way you will never technically own it… but if it breaks down they will replace it without charging you. If you want to actually see programs in high definition (HD) you have to pay extra for the privilege ($10 per month).

On to the installation. Ringing up their customer service team was quick and simple. They booked to have a technician come around to my apartment within 4 days… just in time for the weekend sporting matches. The technician didn’t come when he said he would, but did ring me soon after to aplogise and organise another time later the same day. He seemed somewhat knowledgeable about the product, but was unable to answer a few detailed questions regarding “Series Link”. Otherwise the whole setup took just a few minutes without any hassles.

Looking at the features, there are a few good ones. Pausing live TV and being able to record multiple shows are obviously going to be winners in any household. The series link feature I haven’t really found a need for. The electronic program guide (EPG) is quicker and more responsive than the one offered with a standard digital Sky subscription and the built in planner is a breeze to use. You can also register your DVR with an online account to book programs you want, this comes in handy if you are away from home and forgot to set up a show to record. They need to expand on this by creating an iPhone app with this feature (edit: iPhone app is now available!). There is a lack of quality TV Guide apps for New Zealand which include Sky TV channels.

The channels available with HD available are limited and even then only some programs on those channels are in HD. We don’t subscribe to the movies so we really only benefit from the free to air and sports channels. When something is in HD though, it looks stunning. If you have an HD TV then you really should be watching stuff in the highest definition you can.

Overall, I think it is worth it. We paid the costlier up front fee so only pay an extra $10 per month for the HD ticket. If we didn’t have an HD TV then I don’t think we would have got the MySky HDi DVR even though the features are really handy.

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Their actual data centre!

Just to get this blog started I thought I should give a shout-out to my new web host Hosting Direct. These guys offer great service and some of the lowest prices you will see in NZ.

I registered a new domain with them and got their starter hosting package. They allow you to host two domains with the starter package so I transferred another domain across to them.

They use a great admin tool (DirectAdmin) to set your domain up and use Installatron to help with getting applications (WordPress, Joomla etc.) up and running.

I would recommend these guys to anyone.

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