Twitter & The Time Machine Paradigm

As I finally managed to use the word "paradigm" in a post title, I'm sure it will be read by millions of highly intelligent people so I'm really really going to be very cautious with what comes next.

The advent of social networks and the multiplication of tweets, facebook posts, instagram pictures, tumblr entries etc. have dramatically changed the nature of the Internet by speeding up its evolution and relevance.

I tweet, you tweet, we all tweet. We leave digital artifacts of our lives at any moment and from anywhere. This, in turn, lets us interact with other people though we may never meet them in real life (IRL). There is no doubt, in my mind, that this has a profound impact on the way we relate to the world and one another.

Have you ever realized that Twitter & social networks in general constitute time machines? What better way will future digital archeologists have in order to understand the past than to go back in time by exploring its tweets? How intriguing can it be to just go back to the twitter timeline at the time of a historic event so as to cease the thoughts of the many?

Think of this in terms of "what if Napoleon had had a Twitter account?"

Build-A-Culture & The Obsolete Concept of Citizenship

Before I start with this blog post, let me say that I welcome all comments and critics as I'm sure they will be constructive. I am about to tackle a very sensitive subject that may anger, scare or infuriate some readers.

In my first blog post ever titled "Culture shifting" back in 2007, I intended to describe how modern telecommunication technologies shaped our present at that time. What I wrote, back then, couldn't be more true now.

Most of us, now, have the technological means of immersing ourselves in a totally different culture than the one we geographically live in. Thanks to the Internet, our everyday newspaper can be one from a city located in a distant continent. The same goes for the television shows we watch or the books we read. We even have the ability to almost call anyone on the planet for free thanks to VoIP.

So what does that really mean?

The Best Burger in Newquay, UK

As I was on a trip to Newquay (UK), I thought I'd take advantage of this visit to sample some British burgers. I had done my research before my trip and it seemed that Bank Street Bar & Grill was the place to go for the best burger in town.

Well, let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed at all. I ordered a Bank Street Bad Boy Burger and Boy (no pun intended), I loved it! I usually don't like any burger interpretation that strays away from a classic burger but this time, I was impressed. My chili sauce and the combination with excellent meat, tasty bun and cheese was just delightful.

Paris CDG VIP Fast Track "La Conciergerie" Review

Although the general public may not be aware of it, Paris airports offer personalized services to assist premium customers. As with all Premium services, "La Conciergerie" comes with different levels of service: VIP Fast Track, VIP Premium & VIP Ultimate.

I recently had the chance to try their VIP Fast-Track Departure service and must say I was quite impressed and happy with it. Upon our arrival at CDG, I called the Concierge number that had been texted to me while I was on my way to the airport. A few minutes later, our concierge showed up at the entrance of the 2E terminal. She accompanied us to the Air France First Class checkin counter (we were flying Economy, I am a Flying Blue Platinum member) and handed our passports & frequent flyer cards directly to the checkin agent. Two minutes later, we were already on our way to security through shortcuts that are not accessible to the general public and that are faster than the regular fast-track lanes labeled "Acces No1" for premium passengers.

The Best Burger Blogs

I have a passion for burgers and I love to take pictures of them. There are, however, dedicated blogs that do a much better job than me. So here's my list of not-to-be-missed burger blogs:

- Burgerac: http://www.burgerac.com/

- Hamburger America: http://hamburgeramerica.blogspot.com/

- Burger Junkies: http://burgerjunkies.com/

Drool more after the break:

British Airways Club World & World Traveller Plus on the Londow Moscow Route Review

British Airways recently introduced long-haul aircraft configurations to their London Heathrow - Moscow route. This three hour flight used to feature their intra-european product with Economy (Euro Traveller) and intra-european business class (Club Europe). As of now, British Airways offers long-haul seats on these flights with World Traveller (Economy), World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy), Club World (Business Class) and First cabins. This is, in my opinion, a great improvement. As I was travelling on award tickets on my recent trip to Moscow, I had the chance to fly Club World from London to Moscow and then World Traveller plus on my way back. So here is my humble trip report!

As a OneWorld alliance Emerald member, I was entitled to use British Airways Galleries First lounge in London and I must say I was impressed. The design of the lounge is contemporary and original. I like their lamp/horses at the entrance as much as I like their champagne and wine offering:

Bollinger Rosé Champagne pictured below:

Gusyatnikoff Restaurant Review (Moscow, Russian Federation)

As you may expect, the Pushkin Cafe isn't the only fine dining restaurant in Moscow. Gusyatnikoff is another place that definitely is in the same category. We went there on a week day and were taken a bit aback when we realized that there didn't seem to be many other customers besides us. As a matter of fact, it looked a bit deserted. Nevertheless the setting was very nice managing to mix contemporary and classic designs. The restaurant is made of many different rooms closed by doors so you can't really tell what's happening in the next room (we could tell that other customers were singing in the room next to ours but that didn't bother us as it only added an even more pittoresque touch to our evening).



We had to have Caviar at least once during our trip in Russia and I must confess we were not disappointed by the Beluga Caviar featured in the menu:

Of course, we continued our meal with a Borsch which we absolutely loved combined with  the excellent bread pictured below:

Cafe Pushkin Review (Moscow, Russian Federation)

The Cafe Pushkin in Moscow is arguably the best restaurant in town. Although it looks very classic, this restaurant is new to the Moscow scene as it only opened back in 1999. This place was actually made up by French singer Gilbert Becaud in the famous 1964 song "Nathalie" where Becaud talks about going to "Cafe Pushkin". It is rumored that many French tourists would want to pay a visit to Cafe Pushkin when in Moscow only to realize that the place did not exist. Finally, in 1999, Andrey Dellos gave life to this mythical place by opening a real Cafe Pushkin on Tverskoy boulevard where the food is influenced by both Russian and French cuisines.