Miso soup may seem like a mystical Japanese delicacy, one that comes as the cherry on top of your favorite sushi order. But in actuality, it's really uncomplicated to make. In fact, you don't even need a recipe for it.
45 European cities. 14 days of driving—and several months of sightseeing. That’s the optimized plan created by an algorithm, a followup to the data-driven perfect US road trip we saw earlier this month.
Multitools are awesome, but multitools that integrate into your day-to-day wear are even better. If you’re a fan of using hair clips, the Clippa adds in a screwdriver, wrench, trolley coin, ruler, and knife.
Being a jack of all trades means never being bored again . It also means building confidence, being adaptable, and being a good leader—but it requires the right mindset. Whether you want to branch out a little or wish you could do it all, this guide will help point you in the right direction.
Once you've learned one programming language or programming tool, it's pretty easy to get into another similar one. Sometimes, though, the fine differences are hard to remember. Hyperpolyglot is an awesome tool for looking up the differences and similarities between programming languages and tools.
It's already been quite the week for the UK's mobile battleground, with Three UK's owner Hutchison Whampoa announcing its plan to acquire O2 for a cool £10 billion. And today, confirming recent rumours, BT is ready to re-enter mobile ten years after offloading its shares in O2 and getting out of the game. BT is pursuing its own, mammoth acquisition of EE, of course, but while it waits on regulatory approval, it's tapping EE's network under an MVNO agreement penned way back in 2013. BT is now part of the quad-play club, and like fellow members Virgin Media and TalkTalk, it's going after the price-conscious consumer with a trio of SIM-only plans.
Staying out of the messy business of subsidized handsets (for now at least), BT's starting out with a light buffet of three different 12-month contracts, detailed in the table below.
| Price per month | Minutes | Texts | 4G Data | Price for broadband customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £10 | 200 | unlimited | 500MB | £5 |
| £17 | 500 | unlimited | 2GB | £12 |
| £25 | unlimited | unlimited | 20GB | £20 |
The £25 per month tariff is particularly alluring, with a whopping 20GB 4G data cap, but the most basic plan can also be had for as little as £5 per month if you're already a BT broadband customer. Because what's the point of being a quad-play provider if you can't use discounts to push other products? Broadband customers can also add up to five discounted mobile plans to a single bill, in case the whole family needs kitting out. Minutes, texts and data aren't all you get for your monthly spend, mind, with access to BT's network of five million WiFi hotspots and free BT Sport available through its mobile app. The provider is also keen to mention it offers parental controls, monthly spending caps, and the ability to move freely between tariffs without having to renew your contract.
Interestingly, if you're neither a BT broadband nor TV customer, the £10 per month SIM is effectively the cheapest way to access BT's sports channels. Ignoring the SIM entirely, the cheapest alternative is adding the channels to a Sky subscription for an extra £13.50 per month (Virgin Media charges £15 per month). A BT Mobile SIM only lets you access the BT Sport mobile apps, mind, so you'll need a Chromecast or some other workaround to push channels to the big screen.
For now, BT is starting out by dipping its toe back into mobile with a manageable portfolio of 12-month, SIM-only plans. "The announcement is the first step in BT's consumer mobile strategy, which will develop over the coming years," the announcement states. Things are likely to develop more rapidly when/if BT completes its acquisition of EE, but no doubt the new quad-play provider is keeping a keen eye on the competition. With Three UK's owner out to acquire O2, Sky set to become the next quad-play provider by launching its own mobile offering, and Vodafone getting into the broadband business again and possibly TV, the foreseeable future will be chock-full of change. Hopefully to the benefit of us lot looking for a cheap package that covers all our needs.
It's been 75 days since Costa Rica's power grid last had a sip of petroleum. Thanks to heavy rainfall at the start of the year, the Central American nation has been able to provide 100 percent of its energy needs via renewable resources. This certainly represents a major milestone in green energy production but there's no guarantee that other nations will be able to replicate this feat or that Costa Rica's renewable energy scheme is even sustainable.
It doesn't hurt that Costa Rica has invested heavily national power grid. 80 percent of Costa Rica's entire energy budget comes its four hydroelectric plants with another 13 percent derived from geothermal stations. Solar, wind and fossil fuels round out the remaining 7 percent.
Of course, these fossil fuel alternatives are not without drawbacks. The nation's hydro-electric dams may be working at capacity right now, thanks to those heavy rains at the start of the year, but should the country face drought (or even just seasonal water shortages), Costa Rica may have to revert back to petroleum power in order to keep the lights on.
Costa Rica pulled this off thanks in part to its small population (just 4.8 million people) and lack of energy-intensive manufacturing industries, which keep the nation's energy needs relatively low. What's more, Costa Rica sits atop a highly active volcanic region of the Earth, enabling the nation to harness geothermal power in addition to hydro, solar, and wind energy.
[Image Credit: AFP/Getty]
Filed under: Science
Via: Science Alert, Quartz
Source: Grupo ICE
Soup is one of those easy and forgiving recipes . You add a bunch of stuff, pour some liquid, and then you have a tasty treat. Some items, though, are best left to the very end right flavor and presentation.
Figuring out the best time to buy something requires constant watch over ever-fluctuating online prices, and some knowledge of how prices have changed in the past. Luckily, you don't have to figure it all out yourself—there are great tools to help you do it. This week we're looking at five of the best that will let you know when it's time to strike.
