Be afraid. Britain’s real life spy agency has officially joined Twitter to give the public a greater insight into its work (that’s not how intelligence agencies are meant to work, right?)

On a more serious note though, the GCHQ which is an acronym for Government Communications Headquarters, joined the social media site to clean up the image it received after the damaging Edward Snowden leaks of 2013. The saga identified the GCHQ as one of the agencies that had widespread digital surveillance programs running in the U.S as part of a joint effort with the NSA.

One suspects they also joined Twitter so that they could specifically follow their onscreen idol, James Bond.

The spy agency’s first tweet was a simple, “Hello, world,” which is often a term used by those who are learning computer code. GCHQ’s Director of Communications Andre Pike said that, “in joining social media GCHQ can use its own voice to talk directly about the important work we do in keeping Britain safe”.

If following James Bond is a way to keep Britain safe then we’re both worried and hopeful that the GCHQ could be hinting at their own Bond program. Highly doubtful but one can dream…

Meanwhile new followers of the GCHQ have been hilariously taking the piss out of the agency’s arrival on social media. See below.

.@GCHQ@DefenceHQ I’m currently sitting on the toilet. But you already know that don’t you pic.twitter.com/Qi97CC12qR

— Smeggypants (@Smeggypants) May 16, 2016

Given the GCHQ have joined Twitter to show their support for their on-screen counterpart, perhaps they’d also like to know how to get James Bond’s style. Just an afterthought.

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Never one to keep us bored for long, Pornhub is back with another random affiliation, or ‘request’ it seems. The porn site has just announced the “bug bounty program”, which is offering up to $25,000 to anyone who can breach its security network.

It’s all part of Pornhub’s ongoing effort to keep the website’s community “safe”. According the a blog post on the website, it will offer money to people who can find bugs on the site, and show them how to reproduce them.

“We are essentially asking you tech geeks to pore over the site and show us where we can be doing better,” the site states.

Pornhub aren’t the only ones to offer this ‘hack for money’ reward system, either. The online porn giant follows in the footsteps of a host of other tech companies like Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo who rely on bug bounty platform Hackerone.

“Like other major tech players have been doing as of late, we’re tapping some of the most talented security researchers as a proactive and precautionary measure – in addition to our dedicated developer and security teams – to ensure not only the security of our site but that of our users, which is paramount to us,” Pornhub Vice President Corey Price said in a statement last week.

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While there’s no shortage of swanky wine bars and upper class watering holes in the stylish harbourside enclave that is Double Bay, there is always room for one more, particularly when it pays culinary homage to a French way of life.

We’re talking about chic wine bar-slash-restaurant MISTELLE, of course. Nestled on Kiaora Lane behind Double Bay’s main drag, alongside revamped pub The Golden Sheaf and hipster hotspots like Little Jean cafe and ‘activewear’ magnet About Life, MISTELLE is the suburb’s latest escape, whether you’re keen for an afternoon cocktail in the sun, or a romantic date before painting the town red.

The mastermind behind MISTELLE is Alicia Wadsworth, a hospitality veteran who along with stints at the Gastronomicon wine school in the Languedoc, France, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and the Sydney Wine School, is part of the Commanderie De Bordeux, a group dedicated to promoting Bordeux’s wine outside France. So, it would be safe to say that MISTELLE has no shortage of wine buffs, or wine for that matter.

In fact, MISTELLE’s drinks list is really what sets it apart from other shmancy wine bars in the area. A carefully hand selected wine list offers French, Italian, German, Australian and New Zealand drops and encourages diners to order by the glass to experience new taste sensations. Plus, there are plenty of aperitifs and post-dinner cocktails to savour if you’re more of a spirits kind of guy.

As for food, MISTELLE prides itself on a French and Mediterranean-inspired menu, full of favourites like oysters, frites and of course, fine cheese. For lunch we would recommend started with the potato croquette, grilled chorizo and beef tartare with bread and addictive pepe saya butter, followed by the sliced aberdeen angus sirloin fillet with tangy cafe de Paris butter and a couple of glasses of the Ruinart.

Complimenting a characteristically simple, French menu is MISTELLE’s minimalist fit-out. With only 100 seats, the restaurant’s slick interior caters to all in style with varied indoor and outdoor spaces, Parisian style seating and plenty of places to sit back, relax and dine like a classy French bastard.

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When Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul isn’t “bitching out” in his role as Jesse, he’s on Airbnb.

Yes, that’s right. Aaron Paul is no stranger to the Airbnb community and even as a major TV and film actor, he hosts his very own home in Boise, Idah on the website allowing for travellers from around the world to live in his home, even if just for a night.

Situated on a picturesque treelined street, just minutes from downtown, Paul’s cosy mid-century house rents for $560AUD/night. You can relax in Aaron Paul’s geothermal hot spring, located in the centre of the estate, or as the actor suggests “Put on a record with a glass of wine and relax”.

Paul is such a fan of Airbnb that he recently booked a $7,068AUD/night luxury alpine sanctuary in Utah for his brother’s bachelor party. Talk about an unexpected Airbnb fan.

The post You Can Now Rent Aaron Paul's Luxury Home On Airbnb appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Ah, Uber. What did we ever do without you? You used to have to hail taxis or take public transport like some sort of peasant. Now, at 2 am when the world is spinning and our words are slurring, we can be transported safely to our homes in air-conditioned comfort and usually offered gum or water to make that drunken journey even sweeter.

It does come with risk, however. One alcohol-induced vom in the back seat or some less than flattering loud and rowdy behaviour and your Uber rider reputation will go from glowing to repellant in an instant. If you haven’t had the pleasure of checking your Uber rating, we recommend doing it now. It’s all accessible via the app’s settings.

Here are our top tips for taking that kebab mess of an Uber rating from a 3 to a 5 and being the 5-star Uber rider every driver has dreamed of.

Help Your Driver Make A Smooth Pick Up

Don’t make your driver run circles around you. The Uber app pinpoints your location for you, but if you’re in a busy street or somewhere with limited parking, try using the suggested pick up feature in the app or give your driver a buzz so they know exactly where they can pick you up safely and easily.

Check Your Destination

Entered Surrey Hills, VIC when you really meant Surry Hills, NSW? Common mistake. To avoid any confusion when you’re en route, make sure you enter the correct destination in the app. This will help the driver plan the best route and avoid any wrong turns.

You can also request the driver goes a specific route, which means it might be time to give up your secret shortcuts.

Choose The Right Seat For Your Situation

To sit up front, or not. It’s always an awkward conundrum. Most Uber drivers are pretty flexible about where you sit, but it’s important to be mindful of your seat choice. If you’re keen for a chat, sit in the front passenger seat, but if you’re in the mood to tune out and spend the entire trip on your phone, go for the back seat.

Of course, in this COVID age, it’s probably best if you avoid sitting in the front at all unless you’re in a group. Hot tip for hygienic Uber rides: if you have the choice, sit diagonally opposite your driver, wind your window down a crack and get them to do the same. That produces maximum airflow with minimum air buffeting.

Be A Considerate & Respectful Rider

Uber drivers are just like you and me, so as the saying goes “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. That means keeping the stinky food to a minimum, as well as offensive language and leaving your snotty tissues behind. Treat the ride as if it was your own and you’ll be well on your way to a 5-star rep.

Thank & Rate Your Driver

A little thank you can go a long way – especially when it comes to riding in an Uber. If your driver did a good job, let them know by saying thanks and giving them a good rating. If they weren’t on their game, make sure you leave a comment so the driver knows how they can improve their service.

• The Most Interesting Conversations People Have Had On A Flight
• Unwritten Rules Tourists Need To Know Before Driving In Paris

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It’s one thing to explore Earth’s surface. It’s another to take the plunge and venture deep below.

About 71 percent of the planet’s exterior is covered by water and a vast array of fascinating, sometimes bizarre, things lurk within. Adrenaline junkies get their fix by strapping on an oxygen tank, leaping from the side of a boat, and sinking far into this underwater world.

As for what awaits… let’s just say there’s a reason scuba diving tops so many bucket lists.

Ice Diving | McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Few humans will ever see Antarctica, and even fewer will venture below the surface. At McMurdo sound, divers break through ice 1.3m to 3m thick (4-10ft) to plunge into waters that can drop below -40°C (-40°F). It’s not a journey for the faint of heart, but those who brave it are rewarded with practically unlimited visibility (we’re talking 300m or nearly 1000ft) and a rich marine life like nowhere else in the world.

Underwater Museum | Cancun, Mexico

Off the coast between Isla Mujeres and Cancun, a once-in-a-lifetime sight awaits: an underwater art museum. The Mexican government tapped renowned British underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor for the project, which was designed to form an artificial reef. Each of its hundreds of sculptures is made from a special cement mix designed to promote the growth of coral. A visit is eerie but incredible.

Dive With Manta Rays | Kailua Kona, Hawaii, USA

Don’t be intimidated by their enormous size – manta rays are gentle giants. In Hawaii’s Kailua Kona, divers can get up-close-and-personal with the graceful species, which can reach wing spans up to 7m (23ft). The most famous manta ray dive occurs at night when they come out to feed. Underwater lights placed on the ocean floor attract plankton, a manta’s favourite meal, and divers float above to observe the otherworldly spectacle.

Yonaguni Ruins | Yonaguni, Ryukyu Islands, Japan

Beneath the waters at Japan’s Ryukyu Islands lies a hidden site thought to be 5,000 years old. No one knows for certain how the strange Yonaguni monument came to be – some believe it’s a lost city, others think it’s natural and only looks man-made, and conspiracy theorists call it the work of aliens. The highlight is a large monolithic pyramid that bears a resemblence to the Mayan ruins in South America.

SS Thistlegorm Shipwreck | Red Sea, Egypt

The Red Sea is full of spectacular scuba diving, but its most famous destination is the most popular wreck dive in the world. The SS Thistlegorm was a British ship that was attacked and sunk in 1941 on its way from Glasgow to Alexandria. Today divers explore the sealife that calls the vessel home and the assortment of cargo that has spilled out over the sea floor (including hundreds of toilet bowls, rifles, a railway freight car, and a BMW).

Underwater Volcano | Mahengetang, Indonesia

Indonesia is home to the only diveable underwater volcano on the planet. Banua Wuhu rises more than 400m (1312ft) from the sea floor and sits just 5m (16ft) below the surface. While the volcano hasn’t erupted since 1968, don’t mistake it for dead. The bubbles that rise from inside the earth’s crust are scalding hot and divers can sometimes hear an ominous rumble come from the depths.

Dive Between Continents | Silfra, Iceland

There’s only one place in the world where you can swim between two continents. At the Silfra fissure in Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park, the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and drift apart about 2cm per year. The water is so clear (thanks to its purity and cold temperature) that some divers lose all sense of depth and experience vertigo. The water is reportedly even safe enough to drink.

Bonne Terre Mine | Missouri, USA

To dive Bonne Terre Mine is to follow in the fin kicks of Jacques Cousteau. The famous undersea explorer filmed the submerged mine, which flooded when it shut down in 1962, in 1983. Terrestrial visitors are welcome in the upper levels, but thrillseekers prefer to dive deep into the ghost town of abandoned shafts. A variety of submerged equipment and artifacts are the treasure that waits at the end of this hunt.

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Picture this. A TAG Heuer timepiece is gifted to Swedish Formula One driver Ronnie Peterson by Jack Heuer himself in 1972. That very watch resurfaces more than 30 years later and heads to a luxury auction house.

Well this is no story because this is exactly what happened at Sotheby’s over the weekend. The watch known as the 18-carat gold Heuer Carrera, “the racing driver’s watch”, sold for an astounding CHF 225,000 (AU$316,315).

That price tag sets a lofty new benchmark for the sale of avant-garde watchmaking and even more so as a true collector’s piece. In terms of drive, the Heuer Carrera chronometer features a Calibre 12 Manufacture movement with a date function, but it’s the coveted history of the watch that makes this worth every dollar.

The watch was gifted by Jack Heuer to Petersen in 1972 and costed just AU$1,335. The caseback itself wore the engravings, “Success Ronnie Peterson from Jack W. Heuer.”

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Give me a home among the gum trees, or at least the Argentinian trees with this luxury hideaway located in Buenos Aires.

L4 House, designed by Luciano Kruk, is decked out in concrete inside and out, and blends into the natural terrain making it ideal for wannabe Bear Grylls and intrepid bachelors alike.

The house is surrounded by a grove of maritime pine and descends towards the sea. Some of its best features include glazed walls to break up the cement, four bedrooms located around the perimeter of the interior looking out towards the picturesque landscape and a cast staircase that leads to a rooftop pool, set above the pines for views of the sea.

The post Argentina’s L4 House Is The Ultimate Bear Grylls Pad appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The long-awaited Ford GT hypercar from the blue oval is proving to be a collector’s car even before it lands in the hands of its lucky owners.

Reports from the American company say that over 10,000 people from around the world formally applied to buy the car with 6,506 of those interested parties completing the application process. Not that it will matter for most of them though as there will only be 500 examples of the 2017 Ford GT built over the next two years.

What criteria does one need to lock down an elusive Ford GT? Similar to Ferrari‘s LaFerrari and McLaren‘s P1 hypercars, Motor1.com says that the US$400,000 price tag is just a starting point to a long list of stringent requirements for potential customers.

“Ford only wanted passionate customers as brand ambassadors for the new supercar,” the site said. Of those who registered, there’s been people pleading in videos attached to the application which shows off their extensive garage of Fords, their personal racing footage and oddly enough, their children. Oh, will somebody think of the children?

The next 90 days will see Ford getting in touch with the 500 handpicked buyers before they can enter a concierge service that will help them build and customise their own American hypercar. It’ll be a straight-forward affair with just eight colours and seven different racing stripes to choose from.

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