Edinburgh: The Festival Effect [Infographic]

Edinburgh has long been considered a top tourist destination for visitors to Scotland. With its combination of stunning architecture and historic buildings, along with fantastic cultural attractions such as museums and theatres, it is no wonder that Scotland’s capital attracts visitors from far and wide.


Perhaps one of the main things that entices visitors to ‘Auld Reekie’ is the incredible amount of festivals that the city plays host to every year. Whether you’re interested in science, performance, music or art, there is guaranteed to be an Edinburgh festival that you’ll enjoy.


As you can see from the infographic, the various different festivals encourage a lot of people to visit and stay in the city throughout the year, thus having a huge impact on the tourism industry in Scotland. In fact, the amount of money spent by visitors to Edinburgh every year makes up over three quarters of the overall visitor expenditure in Scotland.

5 Bands That Shaped UK Punk

Depending on which side of the Atlantic you live, the term 'punk' conjures up different things. In the US, the punk movement incorporated a lot of different bands from rock to the art pop movement. A punk could be almost anyone with a non-conformist look. For the UK, a punk was a different animal. It went beyond non-conformist to outrageous. The more unacceptable the attire the better, which went for the height and colour of the hair and the prodigious use of safety pins.

British punk had one clear aim: to offend and shock as many people as possible. It was excessive, aggressive and frustrated. At its height in the late 70s, punk was the antidote to disco. Here are five bands that epitomise what punk really meant in Great Britain.

Is There Something in the Water? 2012's Outbreak of Celebrity Divorces [Infographic]

With the finalisation of Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s divorce, spotlight falls onto the ever-growing list of celebrity divorces. From Demi Moore to Heidi Klum, 2012 has become something of an annus horribilis for many a movie star, model or musician and only meaning one thing: a one-way trip to the family law practice.

Take Heidi and Seal, who announced in January that they were to end their seven-year marriage and the disbandment of a family of six. Despite famously renewing their vows every year and coordinating copious Halloween outfits together, it seems their ‘happy-ever-after’ has come to a sad end. To the other end of the scale, let’s take a look at Demi and Ashton Kutcher. Approaching 50 and still looking fabulous, Demi has long struggled against the tabloids in defence of her marriage to a much younger Hollywood heartthrob. The struggle seemed too much, and this year, amidst rumours of infidelity on his part, the couple has separated.

So what is it? Paparazzi intrusion and over-exposure? Incapable of a monogamous life? Or is it simply the fact that they are human after all and their ratio of divorce exactly mirrors our (mere mortals’) divorce rate? Answers on a postcard. At least you don’t have to fork out like these guys...

Five of the Most Romantic Gestures from the Movies

Hollywood is full of romance, glamour and tales of love that make many a heart melt. If you want to impress a loved one and are looking for gift ideas for two of you to enjoy together then you could do worse than take inspiration from the movies. It is not all about ostentatious displays of wealth to win the heart of another, some of the stand-out romantic gestures are simple, original or thoughtful.


Here’s our pick of five of the most memorable romantic moves from the movies:

UK Broadband Speeds [Infographic]

UK broadband providers are working hard to try and increase the penetration of broadband within the UK, whilst also making concerted efforts to increase the speeds they can offer. So what are the fastest areas of the UK? The results are perhaps surprising - it's not necessarily the Highlands of Scotland or the remote farmlands of Norfolk that are losing out. Indeed the worst areas in the UK are ALL in the south of England, perhaps a surprise given people's preconceived notions of laboured and remote broadband speeds. Admittedly there are plenty of areas still without broadband as an option, which would perhaps skew the stats somewhat, but population level is no indication of good speeds.


And what of the Broadband providers? There's many a boast about broadband speeds in the adverts littering our town and city streets, newspapers and billboards, but are they actually reflective of what you're likely to get from your broadband provider? 


And finally, how does the UK match up to the global market. Take a broadband speed test in South Korea and do you find speeds slower or faster than our humble shores? This simple infographic aims to answer these questions and a few more.


Stats are from an Ofcom survey and a Mashable article. Kudos to them.

Four Fab Films to Inspire Your Travels

Photo used under the Creative Commons license courtesy of Maria Rosaria Sannino 

I would defy anyone to watch Mamma Mia and not yearn to hop on a plane then and there and travel to a beautiful Greek island. A few years after watching the film, I did it, and found one of the dreamiest beaches ever. Kassiopi in Crete was covered with pure white, perfectly round pebbles and was fringed with black pines on one side and sea the colour of cobalt blue on the other.  You could gaze over from your private beach to the wild lands of Albania and imagine all sorts of stories to keep you entertained. I will never forget it.

A Moroccan Hollywood Adventure

Photo used under the Creative Commons license courtesy of Rol 1000

Morocco is like the America of Africa: go there and you will feel strangely at home having seen it so often in films. The forbidding dunes, the lush oases and the frenetic souks will all be familiar to anyone with even a minor interest in cinematography.

Being a bit of a culture vulture (read: nerd), I like to immerse myself in a place I'm going to by watching films and reading books set there. As a tourist, it can be difficult to get a real feel for a place, especially if you only have a short amount of time to spend there. Unless you're lucky enough to be staying with local people, you usually only get to meet people fleetingly and more often than not, they're other tourists. I find that experiencing the place through fictional characters can be a way to connect more fully with a place (read: I'm too shy to meet real people).

A trip to Morocco will undoubtedly be an exciting one: it is the perfect destination for adventure holidays in the desert as well as more leisurely city-based trips. Whet your appetite with a few of these choice morsels by watching some of the films in which they star...

Best Films Based Out Of London

When it comes to locations for movies, there are certain cities that have always caught the fancy of film-makers in Hollywood. Prague immediately pops to mind as does Moscow and the ever-present Paris. However, amongst the most famous films to have hit the screen, many have called London their home. A massive cosmopolitan city with layers of personality, London lends more to films than most named above.


That is probably the reason why this multi-dimensional city has been the base for some famous films like the ones named below.

UK: Hollywood Directors Grab London Office Space

Film sets and office space are the peanut butter and jam of the entertainment business. Producers looking to save on their film costs will often use serviced office space as a make-shift film set. In recent news, Hollywood directors are approaching London developers to enquire about leasing temporary office space. Already a hotspot for foreign investors, UK office spaces are being snapped up like hotcakes. From safe investments to landing spots for the likes of Batman and James Bond, developers are cashing in on these innovative offers.

Basking in the spotlight for their panoramic views, their prime location to high-profile events like the Olympic Games and the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and their structural benefits, Central London workplaces are adopting new open door policies to maximise profit intakes.

Lazarus Species - Back From The Dead

A Lazarus species is effectively a genus of creature that, just like Lazarus, has been raised from the dead. Sometimes species will appear extinct for a period for time only to resurface and prove that as Geoff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, 'life, uh... finds a way.'

The Effects of Social Media on Mass Hysteria

When it comes to communication in today's techno-centric society, social media is taking over. Never before has it been easier to relay and receive messages to and from hundreds of people with just a few simple keystrokes. This convenience is arguably changing the way we develop and maintain relationships, which carries both positive and negative connotations. There is much debate over whether social media is bringing people closer together, or alienating people from true intimacy . . . but one thing there is no question over is the fact that social media makes it possible to spread information very rapidly. That's great when the information is constructive, but what of information that is inaccurate, misleading, loaded with emotional weight, or destructive in nature? Obviously, social media can have some major effects on mass hysteria. Read on to learn more about this alarming phenomenon:

Vertical Farms - The Solutions To Farming In The Future?

Dickson Despommier has been trying to change the world’s mind about farming for over a decade. This Columbia University professor insists that planting upwards is the way to feed the world in the future. While Despommier’s vertical farms were once seen as a novelty, since 2007 they’ve been attracting both attention from both the press and investors. The reasoning is simple: the population of this planet will surge to nine billion people, and feeding them will require at least double the food production available now.