A terminology-based smile this morning…

Anybody remember that wonderful scene from the animated film Ratatouille with the little crunch of the crust? 😊 Continue reading →

In London, a man has been fined by a local council for his attempts at karaoke. His Saturday night attempts at imitating Abba, Dire Straits, New Order, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton generated 150 complaints.

He was prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act and has been ordered to pay £2,748 in fines plus costs and a victim surcharge.

“I admit I’m no singer but I have a go”, said the man. 😊

Today’s smile is a ‘polite’ one. 😊 

You might imagine that etiquette is a thing of the past. However, it is still going strong, as a way for individuals and businesses to improve social skills, gain a competitive edge or up their game when it comes to cross-cultural entertaining.

In this video, etiquette coach William Hanson from The English Manner gives some suggested tips as to how to effectively video conference from home with colleagues and co-workers.

He works all over the world, including in Europe, America, China, south-east Asia, GCC countries, and Russia, and is a trusted advisor and trainer to many official households, embassies, businesses and academic institutes.

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Some silly humour was needed today, I felt. 😊

It is against the law to have a sleeping donkey in your bathtub after 7 pm.

In Arizona, this law was brought into effect due to a public menace case in 1924. A merchant used to allow his donkey to sleep in a bathtub. The town was flooded when a local dam broke and the donkey was washed a mile down the valley. The donkey survived, but locals spent a lot of time and manpower to save the animal. This law was passed shortly afterwards.

German prosecutors have confiscated over EUR 50 million worth of bitcoin from a fraudster. Just one problem – they can’t unlock the money because he won’t hand over the password.

The man was sent to jail and has since served his prison sentence, maintaining his silence while police made several failed attempts to crack the code to access more than 1,700 bitcoin, said a Bavarian prosecutor. Continue reading →

If you like to feed birds in your garden or on your balcony, have you ever had to deal with the unwanted attentions of a squirrel? Then read on, help is at hand… 😊

This classic defense manual for the besieged birder has been fully updated to deal with the more tech-savvy twenty-first-century squirrel.

• Rates birdfeeders based upon how squirrel-proof, or squirrel-vexing, they are.
• A masterpiece on squirrel strategy (Wall Street Journal)

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