You Should Check Your Tweets
This cautionary tale of an MP, who tweeted a link to a porn site by mistake, should be read by anybody, who just retweets, stories, that they are told to.
At least, as I do all my blogging from my computer, I can check what I point to, before publishing.
Wonga Apologises To Stella Creasy
Wonga have apologised to Stella Creasy, after one of their employees abused her on Twitter. It’s all here in the Guardian.
I’m always suspicious of Wonga, as I think they’re very slippery. So was the twibel, as they’re now called, a means to get more publicity? After all, they must have known that Stella Creasy wouldn’t be amused.
Abramovitch Revolves The Door Again
Roman Abramovitch has sacked another manager at Chelsea. What a way to run a football club? Especially, as it seems to be generally accepted that stability in football leads to success.
I suppose the only winner is Roberto di Matteo, as he’ll probably be well paid.
But it doesn’t alter the fact that Chelsea are rapidly becoming a joke in the mind of many!
Some of the statements on the BBC’s web site get straight to the point.
Colin Bundred has said “How is it possible to be Champions of Europe and the joke of the football world at the same time? Sad really.”
And then Post and In give it the treatment.
I wonder if Roman Abramovitch is going to sue everybody who is criticising him on Twitter. If he is, every lawyer in the UK, will be rubbing their hands. I suspect the Americans will lend us a few lawyers if we need help.
Sue The Twits
It is reported on the front page of The Times, that Lord McAlpine is going to sue those who might have defamed him on Twitter. It’s also here in the Telegraph.
If I were him, I’d find the most well-known twit on the list with lots of money and sue just them. It wouldn’t cost me a fortune, but the returns could be high.
The Torch Will Need Its Passport Today
It’s off into Wales today and the weather appears to be holding. If it’s going to rain, it’ll surely be in Wales or Manchester.
Crowds in Worcester look to be good, even at eight in the morning. How many cafes and tea-shops have have record takings?
Perhaps, it shows that the best way to get through a recession, is to have a party?
I know that people have subscribed to this blog from all over the world. So who is the furthest away, who’s watch the Olympic Torch Relay. Click here to watch.
It’s getting addictive, as this tweet posted on the BBC web site shows.
Sorry the BBC can’t take the blame for everything, although Andrew Cowie may disagree as he tweets: “I think the #bbctorchcam will over take Facebook as the reason i failed my exams!”
Could Auntie have come up with the ultimate Internet time-waster?
Angela Merkel on Greece
Well not really, but someone purporting to be her has tweeted.
I’m glad I’ve solved the Greek crisis and I look forward to solving it again next week.
Very funny! But it may well be true!
The Americans Don’t Have A Sense of Humour
It’s all here.
I rest my case!
Now we have even more reasons to not visit the Land of the Hi-tech Death Penalty!
What Do You Call Someone Who Makes An Inappropriate or Stupid Tweet?
The obvious answer is probably a twit, as that isn’t a particularly rude word and people have been known to say they’ve been a twit, when they’ve done something silly.
There are three today.
Ed Milliband tweeted this on the death of Bob Holness.
Sad to hear that Bob Holness has died. A generation will remember him fondly from Blackbusters.
Ed or his Tweetmaster General must have had something from yesterday on their mind.
And talking of yesterday, Diane Abbott got out a shovel and started digging.
Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?
As you can imagine you don’t annoy London’s black cab drivers. My address does, as it contains the name of one of Arsenal’s rivals and most black cab drivers in this area support the boys in red. I’ve now had three refuse to take me with a smle on their face and then of course they have. One was a white man, another was a white woman and the other was a black man in an Arsenal bobble-hat. It probably proves that London taxi-driver humour is rather universal.
And then there was racing commentator, Jason Hall, who tweeted this to racegoers at Plumpton racecourse.
I want your hot body tonight babe.
I suppose he should be the Twit of the Day. Especially, as it was at Plumpton. Or is that Fat Twit of the Day?
Diane Abbott Slips Up
The media is making a hell of a fuss about Diane Abbott’s comment on Twitter.
I find Ms. Abbott entertaining, although her politics are very different to mine. I suspect, that if we were sat next to each other on a plane or train, we’d argue and agree and disagree in unequal measure.
What she originally said was probably scientifically correct in its full context, but was rather shortened because of the rules of Twitter. I don’t disagree with her reasoning and “divide and rule” is a method, that is used by everybody to get their own way on a committee or in a meeting, whether inside politics or not. The British Empire probably used the technique in the past, but hopefully that is all history and to be learned from and not copied. I suspect that it is technique much less used in business and management these days as well.
The real mistake she made was to publish without thinking. But this is the Twitter trap!
I think it would also be better, if when we see something wrong on Twitter posted by someone we know, we douse it in a bucket of very cold water, rather than report it all to the media.
Having read the tweets that caused the story, it strikes me that an early intervention, perhaps in a light-hearted vein could have created a molehill out of a mountain.
We have had politicians in the past, who would have mangled their words with impunity and got into awful trouble on Twitter. George Brown comes to mind, although there would probably be many others in his era. On the other hand, politics has had its fair share of precise wordsmiths, who would have found Twitter suited to their style.
Justice By Facebook
I think that this is the biggest threat to justice, I’ve seen in the last thirty years. In this case for example, according to the Guardian, a juror contacted the defendant and the trial collapsed at a cost to taxpayers of £6,000,000.
I don’t know how you stop it, unless you ban those who know about the Internet from juries.
So it might be the end of the jury system in many cases, and we go to a system, where defendants are tried in front of a panel of judges.
I hope not.
The Anonymous Widower 