The Rise and Fall of Whitney Houston

The Bodyguard movie and the No.1 Grammy award winning song ‘I Will Always Love You’ propelled 1980s singing R&B sensation Whitney Houston into one of the world’s most iconic superstars. It was the 1990s and she already had three consecutive massive hit albums under her belt and was no stranger to fame and fortune. What seemed to be the perfect fantasy world of wealth and worldwide adoration was not to be. Whitney’s life was plagued with personal turmoil, marital problems, and heavy drug abuse. The rollercoaster ride of her amazing life was later brought to an end by her shocking and untimely death in February of this year, 2012.

A Greener World. Without Spam [Infographic]

Our world is slowly realizing the effects of our time here on earth.  Our over consumption for nearly all things has left a large footprint on the world, and now it’s taking its toll.  To make matters worse, it seems these things simply compound.  With better technology comes more energy consumption, and the replacing of old gadgets has led to the increasing size of some astonishingly large landfills.  Even online we continue to get more spam emails, which also take a toll on our environment.  Don’t believe me? Look at this infographic produced by Internet Marketing Agency, WebpageFX, a company known for their SEO packages. But we can have a greener world by implementing a couple of strategies.  And it only takes 3 simple steps.  Firstly, we can help to eliminate spam by forwarding the emails to spam@uce.gov.  Secondly, by installing a spam filter.  And finally, by telling others! 

MW3: The Most Popular Game Release in History [Infographic]

This amazing infographic is a must-read for any Call of Duty fan. Looking at the rapid speed in which the game rocketed to the top of gaming charts worldwide, the infographic examines just which records the game set and just how it managed to achieve such high levels of publicity and success within days of its release. As any fan will know, the game is known for its awesome graphic and truly immersive nature – really throwing its gamer into the virtual world they create. This high quality gaming experience is what has drawn fans in worldwide and what has kept the cult fan base going strong. Originally, not many people thought it was possible for the newest title Modern Warfare 3 to out-do its predecessors – but it proved everyone wrong and is now the record breaking title and the most popular in the entire franchise. Read on to discover just how it achieved that title!

Social Media Security Basics [Infographic]

Social Media is becoming a worldwide technological necessity, and as this popularity of social media grows, so do the risks that coincide with it such as viruses, malware and spam. Whether it is to protect your private personal information from being shared, your identity from being stolen, or your piece of mind from being compromised, social media users must become familar with the basics of security to stay safe. The threat is even more imminent on businesses and enterprises who have social media accounts, since common social media hacks often target larger institutions that utilize social media applications. Case in point, NBC News, Steve Wozniak, and Sarah Palin are all victims of social media hacks. This infographic, "Social Media Security Basics", was developed by Veracode, providers of the world’s leading Application Risk Management Platform, to outline the basics of social media security so as to best protect you from also falling victim to social media hacks. 

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.