Rosie Scribble

Lost

For a while today I was lost.

A sense of unreality descended.

I felt disconnected.

Out of touch.

Alone.

I had little idea of what was going on in the world around me.

A feeling that felt unfamiliar and unwelcome.

And strangely eerie. 

Not nice at all.

So was it stress, drugs or simply a Friday meltdown?

No, dear reader.

I left the house and forgot my iphone.

And for a very long two hours, the world felt silent.

Due to a lack of modern technology at my fingertips, I scribbled this post on the back of a Morrison’s receipt. In pencil. It felt very 1980s and strangely liberating, on reflection.

Caption Competition: Win a Bamboo tablet from Wacom

Update: This competition is now closed. Congratulations to Ellen Arnison and Trish at Mums Gone to, who both won a Wacom Bamboo Tablet.

The lovely people at Ranieri Communications have given me two Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablets from Wacom worth £89.99 each to offer as caption competition prizes.

In a little more technical detail: Wacom’s new Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablets let you draw, doodle, write, navigate, move and touch. Not only do they have multi-touch functionality, so you can use gestures as well as the precise pen, but it is also wireless capable to make it even more versatile.

Not only that but the Bamboo also comes with Photoshop Elements 8, ArtRage 3 and Wacom are also including a wireless accessory kit with each prize.

To enter the competition

The cartoon in this photo has been drawn by an artist using her Wacom tablet.

To enter the competition, simply think up a caption for this photo and tell me in the comments section. I’ll pick my favourite two and the winners will each receive a Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch Tablet (small) plus the wireless accessory kit.

A little housekeeping

• UK residents only
• One entry per person.
• The competition closes at 10pm on December 16th 2011
• I’ll select my favourite two captions and notify the winners within 24 hours
• Winners will be asked to provide their postal address
• I will update this post with the winner's names on 19th December 2011
• Responsibility for sending out the prize lies with Ranieri Communications who aim to send the prizes out in time for Christmas.

To prevent me from sulking because I can’t enter my own competition, Wacom have given me a third tablet to keep and enjoy at home. I did consider offering three prizes but decided it was just too good to give away. Sorry about that.

Wacom provide technology tools that help people be themselves whoever they are, whatever they do, however they do it. You can find out more about their range at Wacom.eu.

How I found my inner geek

I don’t know a great deal about technology despite using a lot of it every day, but my new best friends are the folk at Ranieri Communications who have given me many more products than I can fit into one post. I spent a day with them this summer and they made the products look so easy to use that even I understood their technical specifications. Well, some of them.

In the real world, without a technology PR at my side, I need products that simply plug in and play with the minimum of fuss. Overload me with technical jargon and I’m a little lost. If it does the job, I’m happy. So any technical specifications in this post are there for the benefit of those who understand a great deal more than me.

Having said that, I think I have now found my inner geek. It was there all along, it just needed a little encouragement.

Bamboo Fun interactive tablet from Wacom, £89.99

The Bamboo Fun tablet takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you’ve never used a tablet before, but with a little practise using  it is easy and straight-forward . It also comes with its own tutorial which demonstrates the device's functions. The product is accessed via the Bamboo dock which you download to your computer, and from it you can run a variety of applications from games to handwriting practise.

The tablet merges multi-touch functionality with pen tablet technology in a single device. You can use it draw, paint and create just about anything. You can also use it to improve digital images or drawings and create invitations or scrapbooks to share with friends and family. By using up to four fingers you can also scroll, zoom, rotate and flip through photos and documents.

The one where we don't review a LeapPad Explorer

IJ sent off on her recent holiday with a new LeapPad Explorer under her arm. It’s the world’s first tablet device designed specifically for children. I have been informed, with stern expression and pointed finger, that it is not for adults, so I have to keep my hands off.

As I haven’t had an opportunity to use it yet, I’m holding out before posting a review. With the product targeted at 4-9 year olds I’m also interested to see if her enthusiasm for the tablet wanes quickly, or if it is one she will get many hours of play out of.

Be in with a chance to win a LeapPad Explorer

To tie in with its official launch today, LeapFrog is running a global online event where fans have the chance to win a LeapPad Explorer every hour for 32 hours.

From midnight tonight, parents will have the chance to play LeapFrog’s interactive online game, hosted on a dedicated LeapPad Explorer microsite. Users who successfully complete the game will be notified on screen immediately if they have won. If unsuccessful, users can return to the site every hour to have another try.

You can also be in with a second chance to win if you share a link to the online event on Twitter or Facebook.

LeapFrog’s instant win online event will run alongside the launch of LeapPad Explorer at Hamleys in London. On the day of launch lucky shoppers at the store will also have the opportunity to win a LeapPad Explorer every hour.

Visit the Leapfrog site for more information.

We’re a little bit excited to have received a LeapPad Explorer free of charge to review. I’ll be writing about the device as soon as I am allowed to touch it. 

Silent Sunday: Not now, Mummy, I'm blogging!