Space Hotels & Day Trips to the Moon 

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Sir Richard Branson, outlined these plans and more for the future of his commercial space fleet. “Using small, purpose-built, two-man spaceships based at space hotels our guests will be able to take breathtaking day trips programmed to fly a couple of hundred feet above of the moon’s surface,” Branson said. “They will be able to take in with their own eyes awe-inspiring views of mountains, craters and vast dry seas below.”
– Flights of Fancy: Virgin Galactic Plans Space Hotels, Day Trips to the Moon: Scientific American

Sounds like an easy way to join the 250,000 mile high club. Seeing the moon up close would be pretty cool too.

The New M7 Chip – Used Throughout iOS 7 

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M7 knows when you’re walking, running, or even driving. For example, Maps switches from driving to walking turn-by-turn navigation if, say, you park and continue on foot. Since M7 can tell when you’re in a moving vehicle, iPhone 5s won’t ask you to join Wi-Fi networks you pass by. And if your phone hasn’t moved for a while, like when you’re asleep, M7 reduces network pinging to spare your battery.

 

The new M7 coprocessor is like a sidekick to the A7 chip. It’s designed specifically to measure motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass — a task that would normally fall to the A7 chip. But M7 is much more efficient at it. Now fitness apps that track physical activity can access that data from the M7 coprocessor without constantly engaging the A7 chip. So they require less battery power.

 Apple – iPhone 5s – Features

This one little chip offers some great little user experience touches throughout the core of iOS 7. It’s also definitely a toe in water for something more wearable…

Adrian Carton de Wiart – “frankly I had enjoyed the war” 

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Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart[1] VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was an English officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He fought in the Boer War, World War I, and World War II, was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear, survived a plane crash, tunneled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor wouldn’t amputate them. He later said “frankly I had enjoyed the war.”

Adrian Carton de Wiart – Wikipedia

Frankly the best introductory paragraph to a Wikipedia article.

George – Visitor for a Week

George the Airedale

George the Airedale

For the last week we’ve had George staying in the house. He’s my Mother’s Airedale Terrier who’s spent his week in Brighton overwhelmed by seagulls, lots of new dogs and nice long walks along the seafront.

 

How Cork is Made 

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Cork

This is a close-up of a piece of bark. It’s quite thin, and won’t be used to produce high-quality natural cork. But now there are also technical corks, made up of small pieces of cork fused together, which means that more of the cork bark is suitable for producing wine bottle closures.
– How cork is made: an illustrated guide

Cork is something you don’t really think about, but the process is fascinating.