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I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid you can’t write that

Machine-written literature might offend your tastes but until the dawn of Romanticism most writers were just as formulaic. Since its inception in 2015, the research laboratory OpenAI – an Elon Musk-backed initiative that seeks to build human-friendly artificial intelligence – has developed a series of powerful ‘language models’, the latest being GPT-3 (third-generation Generative Pre-trained…

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Tubular dwells

The tube houses of Hanoi  Narrow residential houses, known as ‘nha ong’ in Vietnamese or ‘tube houses’, found in an urban area of Hanoi. Tall, thin and brightly colored, Hanoi's "tube houses" dominate the city's streets as 9 million people compete for space in Vietnam's bustling capital. Although Vietnam saw a number of villas and…

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Perché Bucine?

Italy is lovely enough as it is.  But, when you find an opportunity to almost join the family, you should jump on it. Here, we present to you Villa Catola in Bucine, Italy.  Run by Fabio Catola and his family, from the minute you step out of the car, you will instantly feel like you've lived…

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Madrid nuevo

Spain is building an $8.7 billion USD new urban development in northern Madrid, called Madrid Nuevo Norte. Madrid is the heart of Spain. However, in its north, train tracks and the urban void surrounding them cut the city right in half, creating traffic and connectivity issues. To solve this issue, Spain is building a new…

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The Princess and the Pea

Almost everyone has heard of Hans Christian Andersen.  His most famous works include The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and so many more. Even Disney has created movies from his work: The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Groove as well as Frozen 1 and…

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In my day, things weren’t like this

You think your job is tough?  Think the boss asks too much?   Well, suffer this poor guy, who works for Japanese Rail.  This almost looks like a joke at first.  But it's not.  They are deadly serious and that is something to reckon with. No wonder Japan is admired in so many ways.  But, don't mess up! See…

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Decisions: Little Island or Long Island?

We haven't been to NYC for a while.  So imagine our surprise when the B1M video (see below) about New York 's popped up for us on YouTube. Turns out that the project was not exactly the happiest of experiences, but - as they say - it is what it is.  Rising from the remnants of…

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Nothing up my sleeve, presto!

Your flight tickets will be $550.  Your suitcase will be another $212. Give this man, Bruno, a medal. Overpacked and no room in my carry on, this is the outcome of that predicament - the travel coat: a couple meters of nylon from the Flea Market in two perfect tones of forest green, 29 carefully…

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Ciao, Alitalia

Who doesn't love Italy?  We bet that only a few will raise their hands.  Italy, for tourists, seems to bring out all that's good in traveling. But, sadly, Italy's official airline, Alitalia has had its troubles in the past and up until now, and, as a result, will be shutting its doors for good. Happily,…

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Try not to drool

AirBnB, constant bad press notwithstanding, has created a wonderful new model on how to travel.  Almost everyone wins. VRBO, an Expedia company (and one of our valued affiliate friends,) have taken the model and successfully given AirBnB a run for their money:  in some recent months, they have marched past AirBnB in bookings. But, this…

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Every breath you take, every move you make

Those with tin foil hats, look away now. People are people and, therefore, unpredictable.  Sometimes that's fine (and fun) but when it comes to wrangling millions of us at a time, that can be . . not fun. In the UK,  Transport for London is using aggregated and anonymised data from its wi-fi network to provide real-time…

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H2Go!

Nature provides, if we respect her.  And respect is something that seems to be in short supply nowadays.  Automobiles still (mostly) run on 1900's technology, we still pump fuel out of the ground, which has untold repercussions. The worst thing is that we know better and have the technologies, and yet, we as humans, are…

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The menace of Venice

Venice in peril.  If it's ancient foundations crumbling, and literal hoards of tourists aren't troubling enough, Venice is now being genuinely threatened by the gargantuan cruise ships that pull up to the ancient city. So much so, that UNESCO has put Venice on its endangered list unless Italy permanently banned cruise ships from docking in…

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Too little, too late?

Europeans - and we include the UK here - generally tend to be ahead of the curve when it comes to things like healthcare, social security, immigration  . . . and the environment. The UK has published its Transport Decarbonisation Plan.  The intent to decarbonise all modes of domestic transport by 2050. Is that too…

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How low can low go?

If you've spent any time reading about The Netherlands, you'll know that the geniuses there have done amazing things in order for the country to keep its head above water. And that hasn't been completely recent activity:  they've been at it for centuries, and they've learned a lot in the process. The video below goes…

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Not for beginners

If you have trouble standing on a chair to clean the curtains, then look away now. There is a "stairway to heaven" made of steel cables and it is the highlight of a climbing tour of the Donnerkogel, in Austria's Salzkammergut resort area. The 43-meter long sky high ladder is stretched over an abyss some…

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To walk all night in Moscow

There are few cities that are as appealing (and to some, daunting) as Moscow.  It's history and "reputation" precede the city itself.  But it would be a big mistake to miss it.  Moscow is bound to be a special one. From the multicolored spires of St. Basil’s Cathedral to the sturdy red walls of the…

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