With London's expensive living costs, coupled with the desire to having his own apartment, Sam Cookney left the city and moved to Barcelona. He now commutes everyday to work by plane, which takes him about five-and-a-half hours door to door. The change of environment has also given him the opportunity to reduce living costs considerably, and still being able to afford a central renovated two-bed apartment with roof terrace, not to mention change of weather.

It sounds like the start of a joke at the expense of hard-up Londoners: Did you hear the one about the man who flies to work and still saves money compared to renting?

In fact it was written up as joke two years' ago. Except it's not a joke any more. It's absolutely true.

Three months ago Sam Cookney moved to Barcelona and now flies to his job in London. He's able to get to his desk by 9:30am and actually afford the rent on a two-bed apartment by himself. Oh, and he gets the other benefits of life in Barcelona too – the food, the weather, the beach and more – all far cheaper than you'd pay for the same in London.

Tempting?:

Featured image: Barcelona via MiscEvelyn.

That some very wealthy individuals are tight with their money, even towards family members, has for quite some time baffled me. Surely, one of the many joys that comes with great wealth, must be the ability to provide for your immediate family, and other good causes.

Fortune has published an article about Steve Jobs unwillingness to support his first girlfriend Chrisann Brennan, and the mother to his first born, financially.

Brennan says later Jobs apologized for the way he'd treated her and Lisa. After developing a closer relationship with his daughter—who legally changed her name to Lisa Brennan-Jobs at age nine—he increased his support "in small increments," eventually to $4,000 a month, says Brennan. "He was cheap as he could be. He under-provided for everything. It was always like pulling teeth to get him to step up."

Over the years after their daughter's birth, Jobs bought Brennan two cars and a $400,000 house, paid Lisa's private school tuition, and at times offered other financial help. Despite this, Brennan filed for bankruptcy in 1996. During high school, Lisa lived with her father (and his family) for the first time. In a second essay, Lisa wrote: "Growing up I'd been very poor, very rich, and sometimes in the middle."

Jobs' money—and his favor—could be withdrawn at a moment's notice. After a summertime conflict with Lisa, back home from Harvard, Jobs stopped supporting her and refused to pay her college tuition. Lisa moved in with a married couple down the street, who covered the tuition; Jobs didn't repay them for years.

Corresponding video:

Featured image: Book cover of Chrisann Brennan's memoir "The Bite in the Apple" (2013).

In Cyprus 1974, the Cyprus National Guard staged a coup that had been ordered by the Greek military junta, which led to a Turkish invasion. Turkey captured 3% of the island before a ceasefire was declared. The Greek military junta was dissolved and replaced by a democratic government, but another invasion by Turkey one month later, gave them further control of 40% of the island. Yet another ceasefire was declared and a buffer zone under the control of the United Nations was established. Some areas of the buffer zone are farmed and/or inhabited, while some are largely untouched by human activity. In the latter areas, you need specific authorization to be granted access.

In line with UNFICYP’s mandate to work toward a return to normal conditions, parts of the buffer zone are farmed and/or inhabited. There are several villages or special areas (called Civil Use Areas) within the buffer zone, where more than 10,000 people live and/or work. Civilians may enter these areas freely. Elsewhere in the buffer zone, civilian movement or activity requires specific authorization from UNFICYP. Located in the eastern region of the buffer zone, Pyla is the only village where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live side by side.

Other areas are largely untouched by human activity. Remnants of old villages, shops and other reminders of lives once lived are scattered throughout the zone. In old Nicosia, ‘new’ cars from the 1970s sit in an underground garage once owned by a car dealer.

As Cyprus has experienced heady development, the buffer zone has remained a haven for flora and fauna, thriving on the near absence of hunters and most other human interference.

Below are a few images from the buffer zone taken from The Atlantic's piece "Frozen In Time: The Cyprus Buffer Zone", with photographs by Neil Hall.

The abandoned Nicosia International Airport:

The airport's departure area:

A Cyprus Airways passenger jet:

A crumbling airport billboard:

More deteriorating billboards:

Imported cars from Japan, sitting in a former shopping center. These cars were to be sold at a Toyota dealership:

An abandoned cafe in central Nicosia:

Objects found and collected by soldiers in an abandoned commercial area located in central Nicosia:

H/t Atlas Obscura.

Cat owner Benjamin Millam lets his cat hunt for food by searching its habitat for hidden plastic balls. When the cat finds one, it puts the ball in a feeder. A lovely solution to keep the cat stimulated.

Via Digg.

It's the fifth of August, and that means Lexus hoverboard Slide has arrived.

Featured image: Hoverboard test rider Ross McGouran.

Upon finding Mario Wienerroither's work with musicless music videos, one of my instant favorites was Britney Spears' "Oops!… I Did It Again". I'm not alone though, million YouTube viewers have seen it already.

And the sounds you're hearing is duct tape and from Mario's oven:

Incoming bad weather? Nah, just one of Blue Angels' pilots having a laugh with the beachgoers:

As part of making a trailer for his book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children", Ransom Riggs travelled to Europe to visit abandoned castles and chateaus, in Belgium and Luxemburg. On this roadtrip, he brought along the Dutch guide and urban explorer Martino Zegwaard, and their work is a fascinating travel into the past.

A house in a Belgian neighbourhood:

A house in Luxemburg:

Oh, this is great! The other day, I watched the HBO documentary "Banksy Does New York", in which you can see a man selling real Banksy art from a pop-up stall. Off course, the passers-by didn't know this, since it was all part of Banksy's New York installation. But some people were lucky:

And now football giant Cristiano Ronaldo in disguise. So, watch out, we're living in a viral society.

H/t Devour.

We're surrounded by a wealth of competitions everywhere, some promising spectacular prizes. Andrew Lloyd from Wales decided to make a project out of this by entering 1,000 competitions, commiting to enter twenty each day. So, how many competitions had Andrew won when he summed up the project four moths later? The number surpised me, but just a little bit.