Blog spots: Tackling the twinkly stars

AS you would most probably expect from a former nurse, Diana Newnham's account of having a biopsy under the French health system is calm, composed and authoritative.

Diana writes of the 'twinkly stars' which showed up on an x-ray after a mammogram and her experience of the procedure to find out if they were cancerous.

Her story outlines the different doctors Diana met, as well as the steps undertaken to both target any issues, as well as reassure her, which is sure to help others that face a similar situation.

Wild boar in French forests
It is not often that you see a wild boar in the forests around Loubejac, but you can spot traces of them with grubbed up mounds of earth and farmers setting out low electric fences to keep them out of their fields.

But the growing popularity of 'weekend hunting' is seeing large areas of forest being changed by the actions of boar, as they are kept enclosed to give hunters a chance to shoot them.

The European Trees website writes about the problems this creates to the ecological balance of a wood, as the overhead canopy thickens and ground level plants disappear, leaving a dry, barren woodland floor.

Pioneer of 'wearable computers' assaulted
A worrying story from a branch of McDonald's in Paris were a US man know for his work on computerised spectacles, saw his eyepiece damaged by staff.

Steve Mann was in a branch of the fast food restaurant on the Champs-Élysées when he was questioned by staff members over the spectacles he was wearing, which offer an augmented reality view of the world.

They ripped up documentation from his doctor in the US, and grabbed at the spectacles damaging them, and because of the technology it was all recorded by the equipment itself.

McDonald's has said it is currently investigating the incident.

Communiqué de McDonald's France
by McDonald's France on Thursday, 19 July 2012 at 05:07 ·
Dans l’affaire qui oppose McDonald’s France à Monsieur Mann, consommateur canadien ayant visité le restaurant des Champs-Elysées le 1er juillet dernier, l’enseigne tient à préciser les éléments suivants.

Behind the scenes of Poitou-Charentes
Take a trip with journalist Mark Johnson as he films the joys, and pitfalls, of restoring a house in the Poitou-Charentes.

But it's not all cement dust and brick laying, as he also takes you on a train journey trips through France and drops in on the local mayor.