· 9 min read
Aura color combinations: what two or three colors mean
Aura color combinations explained: what pink and purple, blue and purple, green and blue and other pairs mean, and how to read a three-color aura.
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60 posts · Apps, games and craft
Notes fromthe studio.
Launches, design notes and guides to the games and apps we make.
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· 9 min read
Aura photography: how aura photos work and what they show
Aura photography explained: what aura camera sensors measure, why Kirlian glows come from moisture, how to read an aura photo and how AI portraits differ.
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· 9 min read
Base tan myth: does a tan protect you from sunburn?
A base tan gives roughly SPF 3 or less, and a tan is a sign of skin damage. What a tan is, why sunbeds don't help and what protects you on a sunny trip.
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· 9 min read
Best UV index for tanning: why no level is truly safe
There is no best UV index for tanning, because no level makes a tan safe. See how risk climbs with UV and by hour, the shadow rule, and how to cut it.
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· 9 min read
Box breathing: how to do it, and when it helps at work
Box breathing step by step: four equal counts of in, hold, out, hold. What a 2023 trial found, how it compares with 4-7-8, and a 40-second desk version.
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· 9 min read
Can you get sunburned on a cloudy day? Clouds, snow, water
Yes. Up to 80% of UV can pass through light cloud, and snow can nearly double it. See what clouds, snow, water, sand, altitude and shade do to UV.
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· 9 min read
EmberFrost achievements: all 10 and how to earn them
EmberFrost achievements guide: all 10 Game Center achievements, how to earn each one, their points, which are free, and how offline syncing works.
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· 9 min read
EmberFrost morale: why villagers get sick or stop coming
EmberFrost morale explained: why villagers freeze, fall sick, leave or stop arriving, what moves the 0 to 100 score, and the fastest ways to lift it.
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· 9 min read
EmberFrost parents' guide: age rating, purchases, safety
Is EmberFrost safe for kids? It is rated 4+, with no ads and no chat. See what can be bought, how to lock purchases, what data it uses and how saves work.
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· 9 min read
Emotion wheel: how to name your feelings in three steps
How to use an emotion wheel: Plutchik's wheel vs the Feeling Wheel, three steps to name your feelings, feeling words by core emotion and mixed emotions.
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· 9 min read
Fitzpatrick skin types: find yours and what it means
Find your Fitzpatrick skin type with a chart of the six types by how skin burns and tans, a quick self-check, the scale's limits and what it means for you.
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· 9 min read
Healthy gaming habits: breaks, sleep and when to stop
Healthy gaming habits from WHO, eye doctors and the CDC: how long to play, how often to rest your eyes, when to stop before bed and how to end on time.
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· 8 min read
How long does it take to get sunburned? UV and skin type
How long it takes to burn depends on the UV index and your skin type. See the dose math, rough minutes at UV 3 to 10, and why no number is a safe limit.
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· 9 min read
How much food per person: a portion guide for hosts
How much food per person: meat, fish, pasta, rice, sides and dessert in grams and US units, why the charts disagree, and a worked menu for 12 guests.
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· 9 min read
How much sun do you need for vitamin D without burning?
The NHS says most people make enough vitamin D from sunlight from late March to September, but not in winter. Why skin tone matters and when to supplement.
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· 9 min read
How to cook for someone with food allergies, step by step
How to cook for someone with food allergies: what to ask, the 9 US and 14 UK allergens, hidden ones in recipes, and how to stop cross-contact at home.
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· 9 min read
How to sit at a desk properly: a posture and setup guide
How to sit at a desk properly: chair height, screen distance, keyboard and feet, a 60-second setup check, and why no single perfect posture exists.
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· 9 min read
How to treat sunburn: fast relief and when to get help
How to treat sunburn with NHS and AAD advice side by side: cooling, pain relief, blisters, a day-by-day timeline and the signs that mean you need a doctor.
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· 9 min read
Keep your phone screen on while cooking: 5 simple fixes
Keep your phone screen on while cooking: a site's Cook Mode, a longer Auto-Lock, Siri timers, Lock Screen Live Activities or a recipe app, and each catch.
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· 9 min read
Lower back pain from sitting: what helps at your desk
Why your lower back aches after hours at a desk, what research says about sitting, the moves and breaks NHS physios suggest, and when to see a GP.
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· 9 min read
Medications that cause sun sensitivity, and skincare too
Medications that cause sun sensitivity include antibiotics, NSAIDs, diuretics and retinoids. See the FDA's list, risky skincare and how to protect skin.
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· 9 min read
Mercury retrograde meaning: what it is, dates and myths
Mercury retrograde meaning explained: why Mercury seems to move backward, 2026 and 2027 dates with shadow periods, what astrology says and what to do.
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· 8 min read
Micro breaks at work: what they are and how to take them
What micro breaks at work are, what a 2022 meta-analysis of 2,335 people found, how long and how often to take them, and ideas from 10 seconds up.
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· 9 min read
Mise en place: what it means and how to do it at home
Mise en place means putting everything in its place before you cook. Here's how to do it at home: read the recipe, prep in order, keep food safe.
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· 9 min read
One-handed games for iPhone: how to spot one-thumb play
One-handed games for iPhone need portrait play, thumb-reach controls and no clock. How to check a game before you download it, and settings that help.
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· 9 min read
SPF 30 vs 50: what the numbers mean and which to choose
SPF 30 vs 50: 97% versus 98% of UVB blocked sounds close, but what reaches your skin drops from 1 in 30 to 1 in 50. What it means and which to choose.
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· 9 min read
UVA vs UVB: what each does to skin and how to block both
UVA vs UVB: UVB causes most sunburns, while UVA reaches deeper and passes through glass. See how sunscreen labels show each and what the UV index misses.
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· 9 min read
Which AirPods have head tracking? Every model checked
Which AirPods have head tracking? A table of every model from AirPods 1 to AirPods 5 and Max 2, plus how to turn it on and what to do if it stops working.
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· 9 min read
Why are recipe blogs so long? How to get just the recipe
Why are recipe blogs so long? Search, ads and reader questions. Here are 6 ways to skip to the recipe, print it without ads or save a clean copy.
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· 9 min read
Year in pixels: how to color a mood tracker for a year
Year in pixels guide: draw a one-square-per-day mood grid, copy three ready color keys, handle mixed days and read your year at the end of each month.
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· 9 min read
Copycat recipes: how to recreate a restaurant dish at home
How to make copycat recipes: photograph the plate, read the menu, use posted calories to spot hidden butter, then test and adjust until it tastes right.
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· 9 min read
Cozy games for iPhone with no ads: how to check any game
How to find cozy games for iPhone with no ads: 4 spots on the App Store page to read, a 10-minute airplane mode test, and why EmberFrost has no ads.
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· 9 min read
EmberFrost build order: what to build first, and why
EmberFrost build order guide: how the 26 places unlock three at a time, what to build first, when to upgrade the fire and how to prepare for the lookout.
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· 8 min read
Moon sign meaning: what your moon says about your moods
Moon sign meaning explained: what your moon sign says about emotions and moods, how to find it from your birth details, and the moon in all 12 signs.
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· 8 min read
Posture reminder on Apple Watch: how to set one up
Can Apple Watch remind you to sit up straight? What a watch can and cannot detect, how Stand alerts differ and how to set up posture reminders.
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· 9 min read
How to preserve handwritten recipes and old recipe cards
How to preserve handwritten recipes: scan old recipe cards at 300 dpi, store the originals safely, decode old measurements and keep a version you can cook.
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· 9 min read
Rare aura colors: what brown, gray, silver and cream mean
Rare aura colors explained: what brown, gray, black, silver, gold, bronze, cream, turquoise, indigo and rainbow auras mean, and which is rarest.
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· 9 min read
Tech neck: what it is, what causes it and what helps
Tech neck, or text neck, is the head-down posture of phone and laptop use. What research says about it, plus screen habits and exercises that help.
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· 8 min read
EmberFrost coins guide: wood, fish, stone and workers
How to earn coins in EmberFrost: what wood, fish and stone sell for, when to use the stall or the sell circle, and how workers, backpacks and the sled help.
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· 8 min read
How to calculate calories in a recipe, per serving
How to calculate calories in a recipe: weigh each ingredient, add up the calories and divide by servings. A worked USDA example and the raw vs cooked trap.
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· 8 min read
How to scale a recipe up or down without ruining it
How to scale a recipe up or down: find the conversion factor, multiply every ingredient, halve eggs by weight, then adjust pan size, seasoning and cooking time.
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· 7 min read
Offline games for iPhone: a cozy survival game with no Wi-Fi
Looking for offline games for iPhone? EmberFrost plays fully offline with no Wi-Fi, account or ads. See what works offline and how to get ready for a flight.
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· 8 min read
Video to recipe: turn a cooking video into written steps
Video to recipe: get a written recipe from a TikTok, YouTube or Instagram cooking video, check amounts and temperatures, and cook without rewinding.
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· 7 min read
The 20-20-20 rule for eye strain, and how to remember it
What the 20-20-20 rule is, what research says about screen breaks and digital eye strain, and simple ways to remember it through a long workday.
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· 7 min read
AirPods posture tracking: how it works and where it stops
Can AirPods track your posture? How AirPods posture tracking uses head motion to notice slouching, what it can and cannot see, and how to get the most from it.
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· 7 min read
Aura colors meaning: what each color is said to reveal
Aura colors meaning, color by color: what red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white and gold traditionally symbolize, and how to use them.
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· 6 min read
Recipes with ingredients I have: how to cook from your pantry
Find recipes with ingredients you already have: a simple way to take stock, match dishes to your pantry, cook what needs using first and waste less food.
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· 7 min read
Desk stretches for neck and shoulders: a short daily routine
Desk stretches for your neck and shoulders that take a few minutes: a simple seated routine with hold times, posture tips and how to remember to move.
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· 8 min read
EmberFrost characters: who lives in Tamarisk Village
Meet the EmberFrost characters: Granny Maud the healer, Lily the mapmaker, Bram the smith, your Ember Keeper and the workers who keep Tamarisk Village warm.
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· 7 min read
Is EmberFrost free? What the Full Story unlocks, explained
Is EmberFrost free? Yes, to start: the prologue and your first three places cost nothing. Here is what the one-time Full Story unlocks and how coin packs work.
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· 7 min read
EmberFrost hard mode: Normal vs Hard, and which to choose
EmberFrost hard mode explained: what changes between Normal and Hard, who each mode suits, and how to switch any time in the settings without starting over.
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· 7 min read
How to start a mood journal: prompts, habits and patterns
How to start a mood journal in a few minutes a day: what to write, simple prompts, how often to journal, and how to spot patterns in your moods over time.
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· 7 min read
Organize recipes in one app: TikTok, Instagram, web and paper
An organize recipes app guide: how to gather recipes saved from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, websites and paper cards into one searchable cookbook you will use.
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· 7 min read
Photo to recipe: how to turn a food photo into a recipe
Photo to recipe, explained: how AI turns a picture of a dish into ingredients, steps and nutrition, what a photo cannot show, and how to check the result.
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· 8 min read
Sun, moon, rising meaning: the big three explained for beginners
Sun moon rising meaning for beginners: what your sun, moon and rising signs represent, how to find them from your birth details, and how a birth chart is read.
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· 5 min read
EmberFrost is out now on iPhone: a cozy winter survival village builder
Light the last ember, keep the fire alive and rebuild a frozen village with one thumb. EmberFrost: Survival Tycoon is out now on the App Store, free to start, with no ads.
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· 5 min read
EmberFrost beginner's guide: 12 tips to keep the fire alive
New to EmberFrost? Twelve practical tips for your first hours in Tamarisk: when to feed the fire, what to build first, how to beat the storms and how to get ready for the Great Blizzard.
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· 4 min read
The idle tycoon game you actually play
Idle games, tycoon games and idle arcade games explained, and how EmberFrost mixes hands-on play with workers who keep the village running.
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· 5 min read
What makes a survival game cozy?
Cozy survival sounds like a contradiction. Here is how a survival game can keep real pressure and still feel warm, and the rules we followed when we made EmberFrost.
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· 4 min read
How to build a winter village that survives the cold
Village builders with winter survival ask one question: how far does the warmth reach? A look at heat, layout and planning in winter village builder games, with examples from EmberFrost.
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