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?’

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I’m not sure if this is really real, but it’s nice nevertheless. A band (called Blame Ringo apparently) have shot a video down at Abbey Road for their new single. It shows a day in the life of the famous zebra crossing and is almost enough to make you feel sorry for motorists…

Alternative titles for this post included Abbey Slowed, The Long and Grinding Road, Stop My Car, All Things Must Pass, Dumb Together…

London saw the biggest snowfall in 18 years today, and the whole transport infrastructure rolled over and died.

This meant I worked from home (although with no less to get done) and Justine and I made a snowman in my ‘lunchbreak’.

He keeps looking at me.

When my girlfriend and I were in New York last year we found a great Diner where we went back a couple of times for breakfast or coffee. Well, I just heard via some incoming searches to this site, that it’s closing down. We found the Cheyenne Diner as it was opposite the world’s largest photographic store, B&H, and so heavily laden with new lenses etc we staggered in for some pancakes.

It had been there for 19 years, but now the commercial pressure for development is forcing it to close its doors. Even so, the landlord says “I don’t want to knock it down. I want to save the building,” so perhaps it will become a trendy trainer shop (sorry – sneaker store) or something. At least we got some great shots of it while we were there. Click the images here to see more on Flickr…

Last year we also had to come to terms with the closure of the New Piccadilly Café in London, another place we had just started visiting before the owners were priced out of the area. That had been there for half a century and has just been lying derelict ever since it shut down.

Well, if you’re looking for the few remaining places to enjoy an affordable no fuss bite to eat and nice retro cup of tea, there are lots of sites around which can point you to somewhere a little more imaginative than Starbucks. Remember to support your local independent shops and cafés, otherwise pretty soon it will have to be Lattés and Ciabattas all round…

…got a suggestion? Post it here…

A new range of coins for the UK has been unveiled by the Royal Mint. It’s the first time a single design approach has been used across all the coins, and I must say I really like them. I like even more the fact that the designer is 26 year old Matthew Dent who won a competition in the national press. Nice one Matthew, they’re great, now you’ve got to top that sometime over the rest of your career…!

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In true Harry Hill fashion, today’s Back to the Future moment was Bill Turnbull announcing on breakfast news that the winds in part of the UK had reached 88 miles per hour. Great Scott!