How to ensure your new home is energy efficient to save on bills
With energy bills continuing to rise by an eye-watering 27% since the increased price cap on 1st October, it has never been more crucial to ensure your home is as energy efficient as possible. However, many UK homeowners are unsure as to what to look out for when it comes to ensuring optimal energy efficiency…
ShinyShiny snippets: Donald Trump allowed back on Facebook and Instagram
Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts will be reinstated after a two-year suspension following the 6 January insurrection. Facebook parent Meta said in a blog post on Wednesday it would be adding "new guardrails" to ensure there are no "repeat offenders" who violate its rules....Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, said Mr Trump is now…
ShinyShiny snippets: Macbook Pro models offer ‘unrivalled power’
The new MacBook Pro models are here. While they look just the same as the ones released in late 2021, the performance has been enhanced, thanks to the latest additions to the Apple-made silicon chips. Until last week, if you wanted a MacBook pro in 14in or 16in screen sizes, you could choose between the M1 pro…
Adults predict they go without their phone and TV for only 5 hours
Adults predict they could only go without their phone and TV for just five hours, while they could manage three days without a laptop or tablet. A study of 2,000 Brits found 71 per cent admitted they’d struggle to manage their life if they didn’t have access to the internet. And without a phone more…
Top 50 activities for over 50s revealed
Over 50s are becoming more daring with their hobbies and interests – with marathons, hand-gliding and getting a TATTOO among the top 50 things they want to experience. A poll of 2,000 adults over 50 found 47 per cent have a new outlook on life as 62 per cent are keen to embrace things more…
Shiny Shiny snippets: Spotify latest tech firm to cull staff
Swedish music-streaming giant Spotify says it will cut 6% of its about 10,000 employees, citing a need to improve efficiency. "In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," boss Daniel Ek wrote on the company's blog. Spotify has never posted a full-year net profit, despite its popularity in the online…
Top 25 words Brits mispronounce – quinoa tops list
The top 25 most mispronounced words have been revealed, including quinoa, parliament – and even the word ‘pronunciation’ itself. A poll of 2,000 adults found 17 per cent say ‘kin-oh-ah’ rather than ‘keen-wah’ for the popular grain, quinoa. And more than one in 10 (12 per cent) have mistakenly pronounced espresso as 'ex-press-oh'. Other commonly…
ShinyShiny snippets: Why M3GAN is the perfect AI ‘monster’
M3GAN is Hollywood's latest attempt to turn AI into a horror genre. Pic: Universal There is no shortage of robot uprising fiction in the Western canon (see: the works of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick; classics like “The Terminator”; family-friendly spins like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”). It’s a conceit that…
ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide
Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry. It will affect up to 5% of its global workforce and cost the business $1.2bn (£972m) in severance and reorganisation costs. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that while customer spending had grown during Covid, more people were…
Millions of homeowners wrongly believe property is energy efficient
A poll of 2,000 adults who own a home found 72 per cent think their property is economical in terms of its energy use, but two-thirds are unaware of what their energy performance certificate (EPC) rating is. These range from A, the most energy efficient with the lowest costs, to G, the least efficient,…
