Moar Lettars!!!

Instagram’s User Count Now At 40 Million, Saw 10 Million New Users In Last 10 Days | TechCrunch

Since the launch of its Android app, Instagram’s user base grew from 30 to 40 million. That’s over 1,000,000 new users a day.

There's A Reason It's Called Rocket Science : NPR

North Korea this week quite literally demonstrated an old truism, with the world as an anxious witness. It turns out that reaching space is, as the saying goes, as tough as rocket science.

The much hyped launch of the Unha-3 rocket, which North Korea said was meant to place a satellite into orbit to celebrate the centenary of the country’s “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung, apparently failed Friday shortly after launch. It was the fourth time North Korea had tried and failed to do it, adding to the growing worldwide history of failed rocket launches.

So why is missile and rocket technology so difficult to get right?

Urban explorer breaks into London's The Shard, the 310 meter high vertical city designed to be the highest building in Western Europe.

Flying Cars: A Mostly Factual History of Airborne Autos - The Daily Beast

The idea of the flying car is almost as old as the idea of mass-produced automobiles and civilian aeronautics. At the turn of the 20th century, Americans may have been able to get a Model T in any color they wanted so long as it was black, but they also wanted a motorcar with wings, and the fantasy of a popular vehicle that can take to the skies has lingered in the popular imagination ever since.  There have been plenty of attempts since the first flying plane was unveiled nearly 100 years ago, but the same design and business challenges remain. A flying car has never been successfully made for the mass market, and yet, as The Daily Beast’s list shows, the dream of leaving one’s garage and heading into the blue is as strong as ever. 

Just Crashed The iPhone Party

Just installed Instagram for Android. Feel kind of bad for the iPhone folks, they must feel dirty.

Ken Livingstone is the 14.5%

Via Guido Fawkes Blog

Ken has published his ‘accounts’ as promised:

“a)      no book-keeper, let alone an accountant, has been near this – you never date down the left hand side – you run left to right;

b)      Corporation Tax is paid on profits, not dividends – massive f**k-up here – tells you all you need to know about the integrity of these accounts.”

Apart from the 14.5% effective income tax rate – which Matthew Hancock points out is less than a City Hall cleaner pays – the main take-away from the part-publication is that by paying himself in dividends he is avoiding paying National Insurance, which employees have to pay. If you are employed you pay it at 12%. If you are self employed you pay it at 9%. If you are Ken, you don’t pay it at all.