Where will the secret door take you…. enter to discover wonders or the unexpected at the corner of your street.
The Secret Door is presented by Safestyle UK
One giant leap for Sociology – UK
Most probably in highschool or later in college, you’ve been educated to the “social classes” of our societies. Whenever your education was received in France, UK, US, you have heard of them. But they are totally outdated. With the rise of even richer classes as well as poorer ones but with a middle class try to hold one, the standards do not fit our new reality.
In the UK a survey tried to settle this issue and came up with a new classification (7 classes).
Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals
Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital
Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy
New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital
Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66
Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital
Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital
This a giant leap for sociology finally acknowledging our day-to-day reality and maybe the beginning of a better understanding of our society.
So where do you fit in this class ? and what’s next ?
Detailed article : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058
UNESCO World Heritage and Movie Scenery For Your Next Holidays
Go all Tom Raider on your next holidays in Cambodia ! Enjoy one of the most impressive wonders of this world, the largest religious monument in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage… and the scenery of many movies but mostly became famous for appearing in a few shots in Tom Raider 
The Cambodian temple complex, where Lara Croft must retrieve the half of the MacGuffin, is a mix of shots from Phnom Bakheng, Bayon temple, and Ta Prohm.
Without joking, you can visit 5 to 7 temples in one day and there are many more. Cambodians are lovely people and you’ll be well received.
To visit the temples, the best is to book a guided tour with a local company. It will cost you about $15 for a day-long visit with a guide in your language and in an A/C van (distances between the temples can be great).
In Siem Reap popular activities are enjoying a tuk-tuk ride to visit the night markets and a scooter ride in the countryside. The staff of Khmer Ways will guide you in Cambodia like you’ve never seen it before and with ease for everyone (family, young and not so young ). Don’t hesitate to email them for more details.
The 1965 film of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim, with Peter O’Toole, is one of the other films to be shot at Angkor Wat.
Ready to go ? Angkor Wat on Wikipedia, on TripAdvisor, and UNESCO’s website.
Alternative Movie Posters
Alternative Movie Poster (or AMP) ! Everybody loves them, now available on a dedicated website full of them.
Browse the poster by name and discover your favorite movies with a whole new look.
Three of my favorites below : Skyfall, Captain America, Django Unchained.
The home of Alternative Movie Posters – film posters re-imagined – can be find here.
Infinite USB Gadget
Gonglue Jiang is a Harvard graduate who loves design. And technology. He, like most of us, probably ran out of USB port one day. So he built a prototype of USB plugin that never runs out; basically if you use one, you open one.
This clearly respond to a current issue we are facing as we are becoming more and more mobile (little hardware, little buses). But with solution like this one, no need to worry next time you buy a MacBook Air or a netbook or anything with as little as one or two USB ports. The Concept received the iF Concept Design Award for its ingenuity.
His website : Infinite USB | Gonglue Jiang.
Yamamori, Dublin
I am craving for good food… and I remembered the good days when I could just pop into Yamamori’s restaurant on the Quay of the Liffey River in Dublin. It is the best restaurant on earth, I swear.
I am not going to make a full review of the restaurant but if you ever happen to be nearby, please give it a try.
Whether you like the popular sushi (nigiri, maki, sashimi..), noodles, or more traditional dishes, veg or non-veg, they will have something for you. The staff is polite and friendly.
Chicken Teriyaki
For sake or plum wine amateurs, they also have a bar.
There are two Yamamori restaurants in Dublin, I would recommend the one located on the Lower Ormond Quay, called Yamamori sushi even if both restaurants offer more or less the same food range, one is supposedly specialised in Noodles, the other in Sushi.
For more info : Yamamori Sushi.
Stop Worrying, Track Your Luggage
I happened to stumble across this new little gadget that might change my life. What if, I could stop nervously worrying when I don’t see my luggage popping on the carousel at the end of my journey ? What if I was sure, whatever happened, that I would have a way to know where it is ?
The solution is called “TrakDot”.
It’s features are described as :
Put the TrakDot in your checked luggage and the device will notify you of your bag’s location at your arrival via a text message or email. You can also track your luggage on Trakdot’s app or website.
It will cost you £50 to buy the device, then £9 to activate it, and finally £13 annually as a service fee (and the cost of AA batteries).
It will be available in april 2013.
More information (but not much more) on their website.
Nokia backs 3D printing for phones
Last week Nokia made a big move. They offered to their Lumia 820 users blueprints to create customized cases for their phone.
Finally one major company stepping into the 3D printing world. Can wait to see more of these happening in the near future.
[...] we are going to release 3D templates, case specs, recommended materials and best practices—everything someone versed in 3D printing needs to print their own custom Lumia 820 case. We refer to these files and documents collectively as a 3D-printing Development Kit, or 3DK for short. (Editor’s note: They can be found here, here andhere.)
In doing this, Nokia has become the first major phone company to begin embracing the 3D printing community and its incredible potential, and continue to be the leading phone company in this exciting field.
More details in a BBC article or on Nokia’s blog post
Check out “Zombies, Run!”
You wanna run but you don’t have the motivation ? Well what if a horde of zombies was running after you, to eat your brraaiinnn ? Life threatening running motivation now comes packed into a nifty app simply called “Zombies, Run!” (a project that started on Kickstarter).
You tie your shoes, put on your headphones, take your first steps outside. You’ve barely covered 100 yards when you hear them. They must be close. You can hear every guttural breath, every rattling groan – they’re everywhere. Zombies. There’s only one thing you can do: Run!
You basically run, in real life, during different missions to collect supplies. Depending on your missions/runs (distance, pace, etc), you collect more or less supplies that you can then use in the app to build a base and help restore humanity. While running you’ll actually be listening to pieces of stories and discover a really immersive game.
In addition, you’ll get really detailed statistics about your exercises online on “ZombieLink”!
This app must definitively be a best seller among the Walking Dead’s fan base.
Two versions are available: 5k Run and Epic Adventure, ranging from $3.99 to $7.99 (USD).
You can find all the information about this app on the dedicated website, iTunes, or Google Play. It is also available for Windows phones.
Where’s Momo ?
How many of you like “Where’s Waldo ?”* ? Well it is time to play with its canine counterpart.
“Find Momo” has arrived : Everyday the author of this website post a photo in which Momo, the dog, is more or less hiding. Some photos are nicely creative and it can become a bit tricky to actually find Momo.
It is quite entertaining, and it gives you one more thing to do every morning at the office instead of working.
Go Find Momo !
You can also stay updated by following the author on Twiter @andrewomerknapp.
*Where’s Wally ?
