I have an alibi, you can’t prove anything.

Nobody should have to put up with that at work, politics is a dirty business…

What is it with Twitter? Or more specifically, why don’t people understand it? Or, even more specifically, why are those people still so fascinated by it? Are they mystified? Outraged? If they don’t like it, perhaps they’re the ones who should turn the computer off and go outside…

That wasn’t a very well constructed opening paragraph, but at least it contained fully formed words RTHR THN TXT SPK, that’s a big bug bear of Twitter-haters.

It’s generated a lot of interest in the press as it goes mainstream, but what is Twitter exactly? The image above is from a recent article in The Sunday Times, which I would have expected to have more of a clue really.

They’re calling it a micro-blogging service, but it isn’t really something that’s easily classified because it’s not a new type of anything, it’s the first of something else. People have come to understand blogs, but they’re hard work, you have to write proper sentences and everything, you have to have a point of view and a (yawn) purpose. You don’t need any of these things with Twitter, you just write up to 140 characters about whatever you like, what you’re eating or thinking, what you’ve just read, or just restate someone else’s comment which you found interesting (the fabled ReTweet). It’s all very confusing, except that it’s not, it really isn’t. You write stuff when you feel like it and read other people’s stuff when you don’t. That’s it. Really.

If anything, it’s too simple. People expecting a hugely complex technological and sociological phenomenon are often left baffled by the straightforwardness of it all with a feeling that they must have misunderstood something. It’s just people typing. Any criticism of Twitter’s content is only really a criticism of real people’s preoccupations. So, the the question shouldn’t be ‘What is Twitter?’ but ‘What’s the point?’

Read the rest of this entry…

Yesterday was the launch of England’s bid to host the 2018 (or 2022) football World Cup. As we’ve been working on the project, we went along for the event which was very impressive, to see our work up close and rub shoulders with the stars at Wembley.

Snappy slogan eh? And a nice font too…

I even got to meet David Beckham who signed my invitation for me, nice chap…

It’s been all over the sports pages today, the campaign will be running from now until next December when the FIFA panel will decide who gets the cup. Head over to www.england2018bid.com to see how you can support the goal.

Even Jeremy is terrified.

I’m not sure how anyone would believe this on any day of the year, let alone the first of April. The Guardian is reporting that it is to move to a completely Twitter based service. Not only that but they will translate their entire 188 year news archive into 140 character bulletins. This would make the report from Dallas, Texas in 1963 “JFK assassin8d @ Dallas, def. heard second gunshot from grassy knoll WTF?”

Thanks to Ryan for the link. Better luck next time.