London’s Name Advantage
It has just been announced that London has now acquired the .london domain name extension.
If you go through the major cities of the world, it generally would seem to work for many like Paris, Berlin, Rome and New York, but it doesn’t work for cities with longer names like Edinburgh, San Francisco and Copenhagen.
So do the short-named cities like London have an advantage? try typing in the domain name for the mayor of Vladivostok!
C Would Have Laughed At This
When we were in Liverpool in the 1960s, Widnes was the butt of lots of jokes as it had rather a nasty smell.
C Would Have Laughed At This
So to see a block of flats in Islington given the same name made me titter. C would have laughed like a drain.
But compared to some street names it isn’t the most romantic place to live.
The next door block was called Tranmere.
Did These Adverts Affect The Choice Of The Royal Baby’s Name?
These adverts are on the Tube all over London and have been for several weeks.
Did These Adverts Affect The Choice Of The Royal Baby’s Name?
Was it a subtle message? As the Queen was obviously very interested and probably went on Saturday, it was perhaps a name in the forefront of the whole family’s minds.
My youngest son, was called George, so I have no objections to it as a name, but to me, it’s probably an unlucky one.
I don’t know whether, I could have a lady friend called Georgia or Georgina.
I Can’t Believe Kia Called A Car A Soul!
Just say Kia Soul and listen to yourself.
I wonder if Clarkson has picked it up!
What A Daft Name For A Railway Engine
This surely must be one of the daftest names for a railway engine.
What A Daft Name For A Railway Engine
I’m sure Colchester Power Signalbox is a worthy signal box, but to name an engine after it, is akin to calling one of your children something like BMW 5-Series.
Collumpton Thinks About Banning The Apostrophe
Mid-Devon Council has provoked outrage, by discussing the removal of the apostrophe from street signs. Appropriately, this is the subject of a piece in the Guardian.
A picture in the piece is from my neck of the woods; Hackney and shows a sign labelled “Childrens’ Garden”
I think that they should all be correctly shown.
Note that even Transport for London, has an apostrophe anomaly in Barons Court not being Baron’s Court. It’s all explained here.
Getting A Good E-Mail Address
If your name is rather a common one, with a surname like Smith or Jones say and a first name of perhaps James or Susan, you will have difficulty getting a good e-mail address.
My name is not unusual, but by putting the last three characters of my post code after my name, I was able to get a Gmail address without trouble.
As the Post code of 10, Downing Street ends in 2AA, I suspect DavidCameron2AA would be available to the Prime Minister, who is probably not the only David Cameron in the world.
A Take On The Name Benedict
With Pope Benedict due to retire, there is this piece on the name Benedict on the BBC’s web site.
It gives a fascinating insight into the psychology of having an unusual name.
I don’t think C and myself, would have used the name for any of our children and even any of future ones we didn’t have.
To return to the author of the article, Benedict Milne. I bet having the name Benedict has got him through the door at either a good university or in a good job. One of my sons has a famous combination of names and he is immensely proud of them and they got him one of the best jobs in London.
I’ve just checked and benedictmilne.com is available. So he can even be his own dot com. Having that as I do, is a great advantage, as you only have to give your name once to also give the e-mail address.
Is This The Wrong Name For A Train?
The Dutch and the Belgians have given the new high speed train linking Brussels and Amsterdam the name Fyra. Here’e what Wikipedia says about the origin of the name.
The name Fyra represents pride, and is derived from the Dutch and French words fier/fière, both meaning proud.
Pride or proud is not a name that would be high on an Englishman’s choice, as pride comes before a fall. I think it’s from the bible!
Saying that various ferries across the Channel have been named Pride of Dover, Calais etc.
I do suppose the Dutch and the Belgians had a problem here, with their various languages. But then in the UK, some of our fastest trains; Class 390 Pendolinos, keep their Italian names.
Someone has just told me that the Dutch have another name for the train. This is the first paragraph from the story.
The Fyra is actually a high speed of Aldi. If you have a cheapest possible train orders, you get those too.
I wonder what Aldi thought of the free publicity.
Two Dave Banks
On BBC Radio 5 Live’s program Double Take on Sunday morning they had a problem.
Both guests were called Dave Banks.
I had to go out, so I didn’t see if it led to any large amounts of hilarity.
I have a very common name and I’ve actually met three people who use the same first and last name combination I do.
I’ve always thought it an idea for a television show to get twenty with the same name and their partners to have a weekend in a hotel and then record what happens. You’d have to be careful about the hotel you choose.
The Anonymous Widower 