Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games To Acquire Gaming Company Scopely For $4.9 Billion
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Computers Tech Games Crypto Music and More
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Savvy Games Group, a games and esports company that is part of the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund, has agreed to acquire mobile games studio Scopely for $4.9 billion. Founded in 2011, Scopely is known for several popular mobile games including Yahtzee With Buddies, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, Stumble Guys and Scrabble […]
Saudi’s Savvy Games Group to acquire mobile games company Scopely for $4.9 billion by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch
JUSTIN Bieber celebrated his birthday this week – no doubt with a huge cake worthy of the star.
But you don’t need the budget of a celeb to pull together a sweet showstopper centrepiece.
Try these tricks to amaze guests with a cake befitting a rock star . . .[/caption]
MAKE IT COUNT: A birthday cake in the shape of a number has wow factor and can be adapted to suit almost anyone.
You will need a cake board to serve your creation — The Range has different sizes starting from £1.49.
Then use Swiss rolls to mould the shape of the number needed.
Aldi sells raspberry jam or chocolate rolls for £1.05 each.
The number eight can be a little tricky — break up the roll where needed and use a knife to curve out the edges.
Slather thick buttercream icing over your Swiss roll. It’s easy enough to make frosting by beating together icing sugar and butter at a ratio of two to one. Or a tub of Sainsbury’s ready-made vanilla icing is £1.60.
Finish by decorating the numbers. For kids’ cakes, chocolate buttons and hundreds and thousands work, or Hobbycraft sells edible glitter at £2.50 a pot.
PIMP YOUR CAKE: Decorating your own cake is an easy way to impress for less.
Find a large plain cake to suit your taste and party size.
Sainsbury’s Seriously Chocolate Cake, £12.50, serves 20. Or for a bigger crowd Asda’s celebration fruit cake, £19, serves 34.
You can create a personalised edible cake topper with a photo and text of your choice from around £5 on both Etsy and Amazon.
Or spell out your own personal message with edible letters. Try Dr Oetker white chocolate letters and numbers, £2.85, from Sainsbury’s.
Large personalised pop-out cake toppers look glamourous and cost around £2.50 from eBay.
Or for a child’s cake, add little toy figures suited to your theme.
For example, small dinosaurs look great on top of a cake.
EVERY home needs a cosy armchair, and this check print one is down to £149.50 from £299 at Dunelm.
SAVE: £149.50
NEW lingerie is an instant mood booster.
I love this blue lace bra, £10, from George at Asda.
MAKE someone’s day with this “You’re Lovely” scented candle, £3.50, new in at Tesco.
WHIP up quick and easy treats with the Global Gizmos mini-waffle maker, £21.99, at Robert Dyas.
Or pick up the Giles & Posner version, £12 in-store only at B&M.
SAVE: £9.99
DRY hair faster by using a microfibre towel – the soft material also means less breakage than a normal terry towel.
Try this purple microfibre hair wrap, £4.99, from H&M.
CLEAN up with the Baylis & Harding handwash and body lotion gift set, reduced to £3.35 from £5, at Sainsbury’s.
SAVE: £1.65
FRESHEN up your breath with Listerine 500ml mouthwashes, now on offer at Wilko for £1.95, were £3.60.
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
FIDGET toys are fun, they can be irresistible to little hands hands and some of the many types are easy to make at home.
Using items you already have will keep costs low.
Try these simple ideas for DIY toys . . .[/caption]
Sensory games and gadgets can also help many children to keep calm and concentrate.
Try these simple ideas for DIY toys . . .
SPIN TO WIN: At Redtedart.com there are some brilliant ideas and templates to make your own DIY fidget spinners.
The website also has templates and inspiration for fortune tellers — foldable paper pop-up toys that kids just cannot get enough of.
STRING ’EM ALONG: For fingers that love to fiddle, try threading chunky beads on to a knotted shoelace, leaving space for them to move.
Finish off by tying at the other end too, for a cheap, easy toy that kids can pop in their pocket if they need to touch it during the day.
For a DIY fidget chain, add beads to four separate key rings, then link all the rings. It’s simple to put together but rewarding for the kids.
GET MESSY: Many young kids love to get their hand squidging around in stuff. Give them their wish by squirting a shallow tray with squirty cream or unperfumed shaving cream.
Add in some cooked spaghetti to give them something to swish their hands in. For cleaner, noisier fun, a sheet of bubble wrap is a firm favourite for youngsters — as long as they aren’t sensitive to loud sounds.
POM-COM: Put a smile on small faces by making soft, fluffy pompoms that are a sensory treat.
All you need is two cardboard circles and a ball of wool. Look online to find sites such as thesprucecrafts.com to find out how to make a quick-and-easy pompom from scratch.
Once you have mastered the easy technique, then you can make heaps of crafts including the pompom bag charm at Hobbycraft.co.uk/ideas, which is a great fiddle toy to take out and about.
SOW the seeds for a little summer crop in the two-tier mini greenhouse from Argos, down from £30 to £20 in the garden sale.
SAVE: £10
SOOTHE winter locks with Garnier hair food, down from £6.99 to £3.49 at Boots.
SAVE: £3.50
ONLINE retailer studio.co.uk has launched its Homelife homeware collection of 300 value items.
Prices start at £3 for a pillowcase. This £8 lamp is available in six pastel shades.
MIRROR, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? The Oliver Bonas Aurora wall mirror for £125 is a beauty. But the Madrid curved wall mirror costs £99 at M&S.
SAVE: £26
THE new Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me boxes at Sainsbury’s cost £2 and include a variety of fresh fruit and veg that could have otherwise gone to waste.
BULK up your freezer with Birds Eye Potato Waffles, reduced from £2.50 to £1.50 at Iceland.
SAVE: £1
CLUBCARD holders can buy two items for £2 from Tesco’s Keep It Handy range. All items, such as descaling tablets, cost £1.50.
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
KIDS become more tech savvy than their parents by the age of 12, a study found.
More than seven in ten parents say children use terms they don’t understand.
Kids become more tech savvy than their parents by the age of 12, a study found[/caption]
Digital safety topped the poll of skills where parents feel most ill-equipped to help their children, according to the research by Vodafone.
Nicki Lyons, of Vodafone, said: “When it comes to tech any parent or carer knows what it’s like to feel your kids know more than you.”
Almost half of parents and carers (47 per cent) feel their children know more than them when it comes to technology.
In fact, a new study found Brits believe their kids’ digital knowledge overtakes theirs at just 12-years-old.
More than seven in 10 parents (71 per cent) claim their children use technological terms they don’t understand – with 66 per cent of parents confessing they are unfamiliar with digital slang such as ‘GRWM’ (get ready with me) and ‘OOMF’ (one of my friends).
Other online terms parents couldn’t explain were ‘smishing’ (SMS-phishing), ‘NFT‘ (non-fungible token) and ‘Digital Activism’.
A CONSUMER champion has revealed the ways Brits can enjoy their Christmas lights without having to worry about the cost.
Households up and down the country are looking for ways to save their money but still enjoy the festive period as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
Using white rather than coloured lights can help keep the energy bill down[/caption]
As Christmas approaches people will be wanting to decorate their trees and homes with lights but they may be wary of raking up considerable energy bills to run them.
Experts have come up with seven cunning ways to enjoy the gleaming decorations without breaking the bank.
Making simple changes such as the colour of the Christmas lights and tracking the time of when they’re switched on and off can help cut the costs of a high electric bill.
John Stirzaker, online consumer expert at NetVoucherCodes.co.uk said: “The moment you turn on the Christmas lights officially marks the start of the holiday season and will help to get you in the festive spirit.
“While it’s a joyous occasion, the rising costs of energy bills impacting households across the UK means having the lights on can result in a big cost at the end of the season.
“We wanted to find helpful ways to help people cut the costs of leaving the lights on so everybody can decorate to their heart’s content – from switching to battery operated lights and timing when they turn on and off by aligning them with sunset.
“Whether you like to put the Christmas tree up on December 1 or follow the traditional rule of waiting until the first Sunday in December, using these helpful tips can significantly cut the costs of high electric bills throughout the whole festive season.”
The seven money saving tips are:
Shop around by heading down to multiple supermarkets to compare the prices, or if you have a blue light card – check where it’s eligible and make sure to make the most of the discount.
Garden centres are also a hidden gem for decorations and you could find yourself grabbing a bargain.
The sales weekend before December is the perfect opportunity to grab all the Christmas bits and bobs – including decorative lights to celebrate the seasonal fun.
Sign up early to special offers to grab 20-30 per cent off packages on Christmas lights to get ahead early to help cut down on the costs.
Surprisingly, the colour lights you select to decorate with can have a slight impact on your monthly costs.
Blue LED lights are used with more expensive materials in production to achieve the standout colour, so it’s probably best to stick to warm whites to save on the pennies.
Once you’ve bought the lights, it’s important to keep track of how often they’re turned on, otherwise it can lead to quite an expensive month.
If you check your weather app to look at the time for sunset, use this period to automatically turn on the lights and keep them on throughout the evening.
Make sure to switch them off before bed otherwise the Christmas cheer will be wasted – and so will the amount of energy you’ll use.
Buying a £2 pack of batteries to last the month can work out nearly five times cheaper, compared to plug-in lights.
If you’re switching on the lights for long periods of time, it will gradually build up the costs and can save an extra tenner in your monthly electric bills.
If you’ve already got some fairy lights in your home, you could wrap them around the tree to still achieve a winter wonderland look without having to fork out on buying the lights and the running costs that come with them, as you’re simply moving the lights from one room to another.
If you’re particularly worried about splurging on Christmas lights and the energy they use, have a look at different ways to light up the space.
Battery controlled light-up baubles or even sprinkling glitter over decorations to make them shine can have an equally stunning effect.
Using battery-operated lights could help you save money[/caption]
ARE you on course for top A-level grades, and a place at university, when you open your results next Thursday?
Or seeking an alternative to further education by getting your-self straight into work?
University isn’t the only path for A-Level students. Internships and entry-level jobs can also help you get on the ladder early[/caption]
While official figures from universities and colleges admission service UCAS show 44 per cent of 18-year-olds have applied for higher education courses this year, there are plenty of other options.
The cost-of-living crisis means nine in ten students are reassessing which route to take, so here are some of the choices . . .
READ MORE IN SUNEMPLOYMENT
Whether heading to university or waiting to start a career, you can gain work experience and make extra cash with micro- tasking apps. Unigigster.com matches up businesses with local students.
Founder Chirag Basavaraj says: “It provides business owners with access to a potential gig workforce of over 2.3million, sidestepping more traditional and expensive hiring processes.”
Similarly, Redwigwam.com has thousands of summer jobs for A-level leavers.
CEO Lorna Davidson says: “We’ve got lots of flexible work for students this summer and they can mix and match the type they do. We pay quickly and it’s a great opportunity to build their CV with a variety of experience.”
WITH more than a million current vacancies across the UK, A-level leavers are being urged to target short-staffed sectors.
Jennifer Johansson, CEO of recruitment platform Placed App, believes new school leavers can help ease the country’s ongoing staffing crisis.
Jennifer Johansson recommends demonstrating commitment as a good way to build reputation[/caption]
She says: “With some sectors struggling to attract the right talent, you have an opportunity to make them an offer.
Demonstrate your willingness to learn and you could become a valued under-study for someone who really needs more hands on deck.
Look at areas you might enjoy a career in, that are struggling to recruit.
In such cases, it can be easier to negotiate wages up, particularly once you build experience and reputation.”
See placed-app.com.
Sophie Hutson started working for Travelodge as a pot washer in 2009 while studying for her A-levels.
After quitting her uni course, she returned to Travelodge as a receptionist.
She has now worked her way up to hotel manager of Windsor Central Travelodge.
Sophie, 29, from Staines, said: “In comparison to my friends who went on to university, I actually climbed the career ladder a lot quicker than them.
“Joining Travelodge opens the door to training, coaching and career progression.”
Travelodge have 500 jobs on offer at www.travelodge.co.uk/careers.
NOT got the results you needed but still want to go to university? Or did you do better than expected? Then find a course through clearing.
David Seaton, assistant director of admissions at the University of Bedfordshire, says: “Clearing has a reputation as a rushed process where you make a big decision in a hurry but it doesn’t need to be.”
David Seaton recommends researching different universities you might approach for clearing, just in case[/caption]
Here he explains how best to use clearing . . .
BE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT FROM UNI: Do you want to be closer to home or live in a city? Is the type of course on offer the most important thing for you
THINK BEFORE YOU SWITCH: You might be tempted to use clearing to switch universities after receiving your A-level results, especially if you got better than you expected. Be cautious and do your research. Would another university really be the best fit for you?
HAVE INFORMATION TO HAND: You will need your UCAS ID, a list of the courses you are interested in and full names of the qualifications.
Read More on The Sun
ASK QUESTIONS: Once you start speaking to universities the process can happen really quickly. Make sure you understand everything that is being said to you and, if you do not, simply ask.
KEEP CALM AND HAVE AN OPEN MIND: Clearing is a great opportunity to find the course of your dreams and even if you do not get your first choice of course, there will be others that will be right for you. See beds.ac.uk/clearing.