These are guidelines to get your product, service or website reviewed. Follow them, and you’ll experience a smooth reviewing process. I don’t make any guarantee on the review outcome, only that it will be an honest review. If you’re a first-time reader I suggest you read the sections “Introduction“, “Permissions” and the instructions for the category of your product/service. Guidelines may be subject to change without further notice. Products and services requested for a review must be provided without cost to the reviewer for duration of the research and review process. As a rule, this does not apply to any guest reviewers.

Introduction
Items, products and services submitted for review will be handled with confidentiality until it has been properly reviewed. URLs for specific files for download will not be revealed in the final review unless specified by the owner. Items will not be exposed to the public until the end of the review unless specified by the sender.

If the product being reviewed is before the official release date, the submitter can request that the review publication is put on hold until a specific date. However, the review will be published shortly after the official product launch/release regardless of a requested hold date.

If you have requested a review, I may notify you of each part of the reviewing process (received, reviewed, published). If requested, the submitter may be allowed to preview the finished article before publication. The only changes allowed to be requested by the submitter or product manufacturer will be in relation to correct factual information. Requested changes regarding a review emphasis, review text (other than factual errors) or a reviewer’s opinions will ignored.

All items and review requests may be sent to one of my addresses, so please contact me for a shipping address and further arrangements. Products sent to a mailing address will not be returned, and will be considered property of the reviewer, unless return shipping is provided by the submitter. If you’re shipping a product from outside Norway, I ask that you tick the box for “gift” on your package for customs clearance.

Permissions and restrictions
Unreleased products/items must be accompanied by a written permission from the main author/distributor/manufacturer. Pirated/unauthorized copies of any product type will be discarded, and will in some cases be reported to proper authorities.

Also, due to import restrictions by the Norwegian Customs and Excise on certain items, not all items will be allowed into the country. More specifically, rules apply to items in the following categories: Drinks (and beverages), Food and Electronics. If you want me to review items in one of these categories, I ask that you send me an exact list of items you want to send, including descriptions, ingredients and/or content listings, so I can cross-reference with restrictions listed by the Norwegian Customs and Excise (as information regarding shipping restrictions is not fully available in English). Regarding these categories, I also ask that you please await a final confirmation before sending these items to avoid any problems or issues during shipping.

Allergies
Due to allergies, food and drinks cannot contain any of the following: nuts/peanuts, peas, beans, eggs or soy. In some cases, small amounts of eggs and only trace amounts of nuts are acceptable. Soy oil and soy lecitin are both acceptable on the ingredients list (since the production process removes or discards the allergen either completely or to an acceptable level), but other soy products or derivatives (including soy beans themselves) are not allowed.

If you’re uncertain whether your product is acceptable or not, you may send a list of ingredients ordered by quantity by e-mail for feedback. Food products containing allergens for me will not be reviewed, and will be either entirely discarded or passed on to friends.

Books
All books and written material can be mailed as instructed above. Books are defined as both fiction and non-fiction material which contains more than 100 A4-sized pages of written work. For fictional works, emphasis of the review will be on readability, story believability and visualization. For factual books, emphasis will be on readability, credibility of information, and visualization using figures, content interest, and diagrams for further understanding of the information. For other non-fiction, emphasis will be on readability, credibility and content interest.

All genres are accepted, and all written material (not just books) are accepted.

Please note that only books written in or translated to English, Norwegian, Danish or Swedish will be accepted for review. Books in other languages will be discarded for review and stored for future use.

Drinks and beverages
All types of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, will be accepted for review, as long as it’s at least 3 dl (10 oz). As for alcoholic beverages, it must be approved for sale in Norway, and cannot exceed an alcoholic volume of 5%. As for mixed drinks, a mailed recipe will do nicely; please provide accurate instructions on mixing the drink. Non-alcoholic beverages must be provided in a robust container for transport (in most cases, a sturdy plastic bottle packed in bubble wrap will do).

Please make sure to properly label the item as fragile for transport, as well as getting a clearance from your transport service.

Emphasis of the review will be on taste and experience.

Electronics
All devices and appliances must be approved and certified for use by Nemko or other major European certification authority, and must be shipped in their original packaging. Devices and appliances which are plugged into an electric outlet, must allow for the electricity input of 230V / 50 Hz (see illustration on the right). Chargers or plugs for type C/Europlug wall sockets is recommended, but not required.

Battery-powered devices must allow for regular replaceable and alkaline-type batteries.

For your safety, please label the item(s) as fragile.

Food:
All kind of food, including complete meals and snack foods, are accepted for review. Please read the ingredients listing carefully because of my allergies. Refrigerated/frozen foods are accepted only if packed in in a manner that keeps this food cold or frozen during transport; if possible, make arrangements for delivering this personally to the reviewer’s address. Foods with an expiration date must be delivered at least one week before the expiration date; check your transport service for delivery times to Norway. All foods must be supplied with complete ingredients listing, sorted by quantity.

Please make sure to properly label the item as fragile for transport, as well as getting a clearance from your transport service.

If the food items are available for purchase in Norway, a gift certificate for the purchase of at least 1 item of the product in question, as well as providing the locations where this item is available for purchase. If this is the case, the locations provided must accept this certificate as payment for the product. Product purchase locations must be in the Ålesund area.

Food or snack item reviews will have emphasis on taste and experience.

Diners:
Only diners, restaurants and similar located in Aalesund (Norway) or the nearby counties will be accepted for review. Diners and restaurants requested for review outside this location may be placed in queue for a possible guest review, or for a time when my travel plans include this location. A gift certificate should be issued to the reviewer, where one full meal (dinner, dessert and post-meal non-alcoholic hot beverage of choice) is included. The diner or restaurant may not charge the reviewer for the meal when this certificate is shown.

Emphasis of the review will be on taste, service/information and experience.

Movies
All movie genres are accepted, except for those depicting adult material (X-rated) or non-fictious illegal activities. Movies containing this kind of material must at the very least be officially rated (USA: up to NC-17 rating, other countries: up to 18 years admittance).

Movies must either be sent on physical DVD or Blu-ray Disc, and must be encoded in PAL or NTSC. All DVD and Blu-ray region encodings are accepted. If the film isn’t originally in English or any of the Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Danish or Swedish), the DVD or Blu-ray Disc must provide subtitling in at least one of these languages.

If a movie is in current release in Norway, the requester must provide a pre-paid ticket, or the cash value of a movie ticket (currently priced at NOK 110.00 for 3D releases, or NOK 100.00 for 2D releases), for one of the two cinemas in Ålesund, Norway (either Løvenvold Kino or Moa Kinosenter). A Norwegian national cinema vocher (“Norgesbilletten“) may be provided, alternately, the cinema ticket may be purchased in the online store for the cinemas in Ålesund. If a pre-paid ticket will be purchased, please contact me to arrange a time and date for the screening (and to ensure that the screening time fits into my schedule).

If the movie isn’t in release in Norway, a screening edition available on DVD or Blu-ray Disc may be mailed to the reviewer. If this is the case, contact me for further arrangements.

If the movie is available for online streaming, the streaming service carrying the movie must be accessible in Norway, and the submitter must provide a coupon code for a free rental to the reviewer.

Downloading the movie from a temporary server may also be acceptable if official permission is provided by the movie distributor. Unlicensed download links will be discarded.

An IMDb listing is preferred for all releases, but is not required for independent films and documentaries.

Main emphasis of the review will be on credibility, story interest and visual effects (for drama/comedy movies, “visual effects” relates to emotional moments in the proper setting, aka. “Kodak moments”).

Music
Music of all genres are accepted for review. Although the review will be heavily influenced by the reviewer’s personal taste in music, the main focus will also be on mood setting, sound quality, hit factor (unless the music is part of a concept album) and how well the music on an album fit together.

Availability of the music to the public is also a small factor in regards to the review. If the music is available as download(s), the links must be available from the artist’s official website. Music downloads are accepted in most formats, as long as these are not restricted by DRM.

The music may also be available in Norway from one of the most popular online download stores (such as iTunes Store). If this is the case, a voucher/coupon for the online store must be made available by the submitter, to enable the reviewer to download the music at no cost.

If the music is only available on CD, the CD must be sent in its original cover (as available in shops) to the reviewer. To ensure product safety, I can recommend sending it in a bubblewrap envelope.

Software and games
All software categories and game genres are accepted in general. Emphasis of the review will be on functionality, user-friendliness, menu layouts, concept interest and upgradability (content addons/upgrades).

For PC-based software or games must be able to run on a computer with a 1GHz processor (both Intel and AMD), 512 MB RAM, and not require a 3D-accelerator. It must also be able to run on Windows Vista and Windows 7. Although my own computer is more powerful than this, I’ve chosen this restriction mainly to ensure that the software/game can run on the computers that the majority of my readers have. I am flexible regarding the issue of RAM size and disk space usage, though.

If the software/game is provided as a download, a signed certification from the author or main distributor as proof of a legal download. If the software/game is provided as a CD or other media, it must be provided in it’s original retail packaging. A valid license must be issued and provided to the reviewer; for time restricted licenses, a full year license must be provided.

I’m also able to review games available on PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS/DSi and Nintendo 3DS. In these cases, the game media being shipped has to be the PAL version (for European systems). If the game is available from Nintendo eShop i Norway/Scandinavia, the submitter may provide a redeemable code for the game from the eShop.

Online services
All types of online services may be reviewed, both free and paid, although services targetted at the adult market only will not be reviewed.

For paid or premium online services, the submitter must provide paid/premium access to the service for a full year, either through a redeemable code or through post-registration activation. A pre-registered account will not be acceptable, as the registration process itself will also be part of the review.

The online service being reviewed must be accessible from Norway, and emphasis of the review will be on design/layout, usability, portability (how it works with a variety of browsers and on mobile devices), and content/service quality (including stability).

The review may also include how customer service works, and in cases where the online service has both free/sponsored and paid/premium content or service levels, the reviewer will also compare how customer service is handled for each account type.

Websites
Both personal, commercial and non-profit websites will be accepted for review. Just send the URL of the website you want me to review. Emphasis of the review will be on design, navigation, layout and content quality. Adult websites and websites describing and/or encouraging illegal activity will be discarded. Websites containing links to adult-oriented material may be accepted if the visitor is properly warned.