16 signs you’re the fun one in the office

August 3, 2015, 2:16 am

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Are you the effortlessly cool Barney Stinson of your company?

Maybe you consider yourself the Tim of The Office because your endless trolling is Reddit worthy?

No matter who you are, if these apply, you my friend are winning at life.

Here’s 16 signs you’re the fun one in the office.

1. People are genuinely excited to see you every day

2. You’re always a target for funny work-related emails

Because if you laugh, it must be good.

3. And even non-work stuff too

After all, if you haven’t seen it, whoever shows it to you will probably be the proudest they’ve ever been.

4. And of course, your replies… Read the full story

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These are the top 20 books everyone should have read by the time they leave school

August 3, 2015, 2:40 am

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A survey of 500 teachers by TES magazine has determined the 20 books everyone should have read by the time they leave school.

So, are you teacher’s pet, or was yours a misspent youth? Time to find out.

George Orwell takes up two of the top three slots, with dystopian classics 1984 and Animal Farm coming in first and third place respectively.

They are separated by Harper Lee’s tale of racial inequality in the American Deep South (and now Go Set A Watchman prequel) To Kill A Mockingbird.

Lord of the Flies in fourth place and Of Mice and Men in fifth, both beat JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

How many have you read? Click ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on each of the 15… Read the full story

21 things you only know if you cross-stitch

August 3, 2015, 4:07 am

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Cross-stitching is ridiculously twee.

It’s old fashioned and fiddly and completely, totally addictive.

Because nothing is as relaxing as colour blocking in a big section of your most recent project on the sofa in front of the TV of an evening.

If you spend your free time searching the carpet for dropped needles, counting stitches and splitting skeins of thread to make yet another bookmark or coaster that you really don’t need, you should realise you’re hooked.

Here’s 21 things you only know if you cross-stitch.

1. The anticipation and buzz you get when you stretch your 14-count Aida across a frame to start a fresh stitch…

2. …Which only turns to annoyance when you remember the state your threads are in.

And once again you… Read the full story

Listening to music makes you more effective at work, says science

August 3, 2015, 4:28 am

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This is for all those wannabe hoodrats who were banned from listening to 8 Mile while they did their maths homework.

And for all those who like a little disco inferno while they fill in their spreadsheets.

Because, according to a new scientific study, listening to music while you work makes you more effective.

In fact, the study by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) found that when people listened to their favourite music, they made less mistakes, and worked faster.

Researchers asked 15 surgeons to sew up incisions made in dead pigs’ feet, because they’re most similar to human skin (nice), in their lab.

The surgeons had to carry out two identical ‘wound repairs’ using layered… Read the full story

7 illustrations people who love their bed will understand

August 3, 2015, 5:49 am

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Is there anything more blissful than knowing you’ve got hours of uninterrupted sleep ahead of you?

No work to interfere with your 40 (thousand) winks. No shrill alarm to rudely interrupt your slumber.

Duvet days really are the best days.

If you, like us, have been known to sleep for 24-hours of a two-day weekend – on a fairly regular basis – then Landysh Akhmetzyanova’s perfect illustrations are for you.

Landysh is one of the artists behind the online shop Lingvistov.com, where you can buy cards, prints, t-shirts and custom-made books full of hilariously on point doodles.

And she knows you better than you know yourself.

A haiku for our times. 

 

Practice… Read the full story

Breaking: Nottingham street gets Pot Noodle vending machine

August 3, 2015, 6:34 am

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Read the full story

How Nana Betty became a bridesmaid at the age of 89 – and totally stole the show

August 3, 2015, 7:35 am

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When Christine Quinn got married in May this year, one particular lady was the life and soul of the bridal party – her 89-year-old grandma.

Christine chose her Nana Betty (aka Elizabeth Govern) to be one her bridesmaids, alongside her sister and two friends, because she’s her best friend.

‘The decision was easy given the strength of our relationship,’ Christine explained. ‘Who doesn’t want her best friend standing beside her on her wedding day?’

Although Betty played hard to get at first – Christine had to ask her about 10 times – she eventually relented and proudly stood next to her granddaughter as she married Patrick in Pennsylvania on May 2.

Read the full story

What a dominatrix taught me about dating

August 3, 2015, 8:33 am

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When it comes to my love life, you’d be forgiven for thinking I was a masochist.

Single for four years and only attracted to the worst kind of men – bad boys, narcissists and serial cheaters – it’s clear I needed to whip my dating strategy into shape.

But all the vanilla advice I’d been given didn’t seem to hit the mark.

So I decided to see what a professional S&M practitioner had to say about bringing romance to heel.

Margaret Corvid aka Mistress Magpie is a dominatrix from Plymouth.

She met her husband, Bob Bran, three years ago and they have been married for a year.

Here’s her tips for finding love.

Don’t date – find friends… Read the full story

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Everyday sexism? Your office air conditioning is programmed for 40-year-old men apparently

August 3, 2015, 11:50 pm

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Sexual discrimination is in the air – in virtually every office in Britain.

If your office is currently full of women in scarves, clutching hot water bottles, while the men are basking in T-shirts, a new study might explain what many have always suspected – your air con is sexist.

The study by two Dutch scientists at Maastricht University (both men, just to be clear) found that most offices set their thermostats based on the resting metabolic rate of a 40-year-old man – as per standard indoor air conditioning guidelines which date back to the 1960s.

But, because women tend to be smaller and have more body fat then men, they have slower metabolic rates. Which means the current air conditioning standards are too cold for most women.

‘Many men think that women are just nagging,’ building physicist (yes it’s a job) Joost van Hoof said of the study’s… Read the full story

13 things I wish I’d known before becoming a musician

August 4, 2015, 12:00 am

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If you’ve ever pretended a tennis racket was a guitar or a hairbrush a microphone, you’ve probably imagined being a musician.

All that money. All that sex. All that excitement. Sadly, for most of us the reality isn’t quite so glamorous. Here are 13 things I wish I’d known before becoming a musician.

1. There’s no money in it

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average income of a full-time professional musician is £21,492 – and that means for every Adele raking in £27 million or One Direction bringing in £59 million a year, there are hundreds of pros struggling to earn enough to keep themselves in plectrums.

2. Don’t play gigs on Tuesdays, or during the World Cup

Taylor Swift might… Read the full story

Kendal Mint Cake has had a boozy makeover

August 4, 2015, 12:35 am

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That mint flavoured slab of sugar you probably first tasted on a school trip, while on a forced march up a mountain, has had a boozy makeover.

The retro energy bar, made from peppermint, sugar and glucose, is popular with climbers who munch on it for energy. Fun fact: it was carried by Sir Edmund Hillary and his team on their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.

But now the old-school snack has been given a 21st century revamp – it’s been turned into a 24 per cent ABV liqueur.

Because, as the strapline goes, ‘candy is dandy, but liqueur is quicker’.

Read the full story

20 signs you’re from Yorkshire

August 4, 2015, 1:09 am

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To the rest of the world Yorkshire is just another English county, but those who occupy it will argue differently.

Yorkshire folk view themselves as the chosen ones and beam with pride at the stereotypes that come with being from ‘God’s own county’.

But just how Yorkshire, or proper Yorkshire, are you?

1. To you, ‘chuffed’ is an emotion. 

To a lot of people ‘chuffed’ doesn’t mean anything, however in Yorkshire it is a legitimate emotion – and yes, it is in the dictionary.

2. You say ‘eh’ whenever you don’t understand something.

Short, sweet but extremely effective, in Yorkshire uttering these two letters is the best way of signifying your absolute confusion. This made the dictionary too (albeit the urban version).

3.  Homemade Yorkshire puddings are the only option.

Read the full story

Parents create visual bucket list for their five-year-old who is going blind

August 4, 2015, 1:33 am

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Five-year-old Lizzy Myers has been diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that means she will eventually go blind.

So, her parents Steve and Christine Myers, from Ohio, have created a visual bucket list for her so she can take in some of the world’s most stunning views before she loses her sight.

Last year, Lizzy was diagnosed with Usher syndrome type II, a genetic condition that causes progressive loss of hearing and vision.

She already wears a hearing aid and it’s estimated she has between five and seven years before she loses her eyesight.

Read the full story

Welcome to Iran’s versions of McDonald’s and Pizza Hut – Mash Donald’s and Pizza Hat

August 4, 2015, 2:50 am

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Well, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Welcome to Iran’s fake fast food chains. Instead of the deep-fried triumvirate of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and KFC, the hangry people of Iran have Mash Donald’s, Pizza Hat and ZFC.

It’s the big yellow ‘M’ but not as you know it.

Maccy’s was kicked out of Iran after the revolution in 1979. In fact,… Read the full story

21 things you only know if you’ve been a shop assistant

August 4, 2015, 3:22 am

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At some point or other, most of us have worked in a shop.

Whether it was stacking supermarket shelves, hanging T-shirts in a high street chain, or helping customers pick the perfect present in some niche boutique, we all know the pain of long days on our feet, polyester uniforms and picky old ladies.

It doesn’t matter if those days are long behind you or you are still toiling away at the tills, if you’ve ever been a shop assistant, here’s 21 thoughts you will recognise.

1. You’re surprised that you have to arrive on your first day at some obscenely early hour.

But you soon get used to this, and start to enjoy your Saturday morning walk through town… Read the full story

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There’s a space age camp site in Amsterdam, and we want to go there immediately

August 4, 2015, 3:36 am

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Urban Campsite Amsterdam isn’t like any campsite you’ve ever seen before.

Didn’t make it on to the Mars One mission? Well fear not, as you can have your very own space age adventure here on earth (and you’ll even get to return to your loved ones afterwards. Bonus).

Urban Campsite Amsterdam is where camping meets art.

The site is made up of 14 habitable installations, each created by a different artist, and set in a desert-like landscape in an artificial island in IJburg, Amsterdam.

Best of all, the installations are all available to rent through Airbnb.

Check these out…

Upside down you turn me by Rob Sweere

Read the full story

Stunning underwater ‘Whale Whisperer’ shot wins this year’s National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

August 4, 2015, 3:49 am

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It beats our pic of Auntie Betty falling into the pool.

Mexican Anuar Patjane Floriuk’s beautiful underwater shot of divers swimming with a humpback whale has beaten nearly 18,000 entries in this year’s National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Called ‘Whale Whisperer’ the photo wasn’t even planned. ‘I was taking photos near the head of the whale, and all of a sudden she began to swim toward the rest of the diving team. The divers gave the whale and her calf space, and I just clicked at the moment when the flow and composition seemed right,’ said Floriuk.

The stunning snap was taken near Roca Partida, an island off the western coast of Mexico and scooped Floriuk top prize -an eight-day National Geographic Photo… Read the full story

Are these Mumbai taxis the most stylish taxis in the world?

August 4, 2015, 4:40 am

≫ Next: Cecil the lion is being immortalised in a Beanie Baby and a new ‘Cecil’s Revenge’ beer

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Mumbai may now have the most stylish cabs in the world. Fact.

A Kickstarter campaign has given the city’s young artists the chance to share their work by designing cool new taxi interiors.

The innovative project, called Taxi Fabric, wants to help change the public’s perception about the importance of design by transforming dull taxis into colourful works of art.

They believe older generations in India often don’t see design as a worthwhile profession.

Taxi Fabric said: ‘We want to help Indian designers have their work not only be seen but also allow them to connect with members of the public who up until now… Read the full story

Cecil the lion is being immortalised in a Beanie Baby and a new ‘Cecil’s Revenge’ beer

August 4, 2015, 5:09 am

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To be fair, our 90s inner child would LOVE this.

Cecil the lion is being immortalised – in the form of a stuffed toy.

According to a press release, Ty Warner is creating a Cecil the lion Beanie Baby in memory of the big cat who became headline news after he was lured out of his Zimbabwe national park and killed by an American trophy hunter.

All profits from sales of the Cecil cuddly toy, available from next month, will go to the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of the University of Oxford – a group dedicated to wildlife conservation all over Africa.

‘Hopefully, this special Beanie Baby will raise awareness for… Read the full story

McVitie’s launch scrummy limited edition ice creams inspired by your favourite biccies

August 4, 2015, 5:09 am

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Hold the tea. McVitie’s have launched a range of limited edition ice cream treats inspired by your favourite biccies.

From Rich Teas to Digestives, Ginger Nuts to Jaffa Cakes, McVitie’s are responsible for some of the most iconic and deliciously dunkable biscuits on the biccie circuit.

And now, for two days only, you can get your tongue around your fave biccie in limited edition ice cream form.

Before we go into the where’s, how’s and whens, here are the dreamy creations on offer are…

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