BEYOND THE INTERNET | MATCHMAKING THROUGH PEOPLE, NOT ALGORITHMS November 1, 2011 • Shared Tables Society, sharedtables.com Arranges dinners where four single men and four single women meet. Members are invited by existing members: each time you sign up to a dinner or “table” you have to recommend four other singles. Attracts a high-calibre, international crowd of late-20s, early 30s professionals. Website is truly “cool”. Upsides: Almost [...]
The Q3: Audi’s likeable compact SUV November 1, 2011 INTERNALLY, Audi calls it “the product firework”. With 12 new models introduced in the last five years and seven more planned for introduction by 2015, it seems the Four Rings can do no wrong. The Ingolstadt manufacturer seems to have an almost alchemic ability to find success in whatever niche it enters. But it is [...]
CAR TALK November 1, 2011 FORD’S YOUNG-DRIVER PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY Ford has introduced technology which helps parents to prevent young drivers from receiving calls while driving. The feature, which is part of Ford’s MyKey technology, is called “Do Not Disturb” and blocks incoming phone calls or text messages from a Bluetooth-paired mobile phone. Calls are diverted to voicemail and text messages [...]
Capital Shopping Centres falls on its bleak outlook October 31, 2011 SHARES in Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) fell by more than three per cent yesterday, despite issuing a robust trading statement, as the UK’s biggest shopping mall owner warned of tough times ahead. The owner of Manchester’s Trafford Centre and the MetroCentre in Gateshead said footfall at its malls was up two per cent from 1 [...]
Stats hint at a drop in UK house prices October 31, 2011 MORTGAGE lending slipped for the second straight month in September, the Bank of England revealed yesterday, while a separate study released this morning exposes dwindling confidence in the likelihood of house prices holding up. More people expect house prices to fall over the next year than those expecting any rise, a survey by the Halifax [...]
Hair-raising tips: growing the mo October 31, 2011 G ROWING a moustache can be a dangerous business. You risk ridicule with uneven growth or social exclusion with an unclean and whiffy tache. Then there’s the maintenance and the blade-based dangers of trimming. You can avoid these pitfalls with our Movember guide. View this moustache-growing month as an opportunity to look dashing while raising [...]
FIT IN THE CITY October 31, 2011 FITNESS & DIET EXPERT FORGET swanky members clubs – no sooner has the stork paid a visit these days, everyone who’s anyone ditches chi-chi clubs for the family-friendly spa. The constant media bombardment of supermodel mum pics (you know the ones, catwalk-ready six weeks after being wheeled out of the delivery suite), combined with endless [...]
Look beyond Chinatown for the hottest regional food October 31, 2011 CHINATOWN should be worried. Just beyond its main artery, Gerrard Street, lies a triumvirate of restaurants muscling in on its territory with militantly spicy dishes and brazen authenticity. When they arrived in Soho, Bar Shu, Baozi Inn and Ba Shan were a celebration of flavours from the Sichuanese province of China in gorgeous lanterned settings [...]
QUAFFER’S CORNER October 31, 2011 HEAD SOMMELIER AND MANAGER OF LUTYENS RESTAURANT Pinot Noir is a tricky grape to grow. Countries in the New World struggle to reproduce the fragrance and elegance that characterise red Burgundy where this grape originates (and, I would add, the best wines of Germany, where it is know as Spätburgunder). New Zealand is probably the [...]
House prices now falling twice as fast October 30, 2011 THE DECLINE in house prices doubled its speed in October as economic turbulence scared prospective buyers and hit demand, a leading survey claimed this morning. Average house prices were down 0.2 per cent in England and Wales this month, compared to declines of 0.1 per cent in each of the previous five months, the report [...]