Words About Things

Twitter have recently announced that they will soon offer the ability to include location data with tweets. Users will be able to have their approximate location shown alongside each tweet and have this data mapped. The feature will be entirely opt-in so users need not worry that their whereabouts will be broadcast without their knowledge.

One the data about tweet locations is collected users will presumably be able to see new tweets on interactive maps as well as browse by location. Being able to see what people in specific places are saying will be useful for keeping up to date with unfolding news events. It might also help us to become more involved in local events and see what is actually going on in our neighborhoods rather than online.

A possible negative aspect (or positive depending on your point of view) would be the ability of small businesses to reach out to those nearby. This could be a problem as marketers seem to be all over Twitter at the moment, although if this becomes a problem opting out is always an option.

Read about the changes on the Twitter blog here.

In a shocking display of dishonesty Oxford Airport has been rebranded as London Oxford Airport. The airport caters mostly to business customers and the owners hope that change in name will lead to an increase in use from those looking to travel to London. Those using the airport may be surprised to find themselves almost 60 miles from the capital.

Ros Weatherall of the Oxford Civic Society is unimpressed by the rebranding:

“Good grief. Oxford is a great place in its own right and I find it insulting it is being considered just another offshoot of London. Trying to make Oxford seem like a suburb of London is very misleading. This is an insult to the major historical and cultural impact Oxford has had on the country.”

London Oxford Airport’s Marketing Manager James Dillon Godfray says that the new name was created to try and emphasize the proximity of Oxford to London rather than to trick customers. As the Telegraph points out London Oxford is not the only airport outside of the capital to use the name London in its name.

“London Stansted Airport, in Essex, is just over 40 miles from the capital, while London Luton Airport, in Bedfordshire, is 35 miles away.”

A one-of-a-kind Rolls-Royce looks set to become the world’s most expensive car when it goes up for auction next month. The Roller, which belongs to private collector Hans-Gunther Zach, is expected to sell for up to £8.5 million when it gos on sale alongside 24 rare Rolls-Royce’s and three Bentleys.

The previous record holder was a 957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa which sold or £7.2 million in May of this year.

The car was built for the Maharaja and was named the Star of India when it was built in 1934. It was well ahead of its time and even features headlights which track the movements of the steering wheel.It was previously displayed in Zach’s Rolls-Royce museum in Muhlheim, Germany.

I’m tempted to put in a bid, you could make a lot of money renting this out as a hire car for weddings if only it wasn’t worth more than the GDP of a small country…

Had a lovely weekend which always seems to make Monday morning that bit more difficult. We decided to go camping in Devon at the last minute but unfortunately everybody north of Bristol had also had this idea so we had no luck finding a campsite with a vacant pitch. Instead we headed off in the car in search of a sunny beach eventually finding ourselves at Lyme Regis.

The town is best known for its fossils, 10 minutes digging in the cliffs that line one end of the bay are likely to result in at least one new type of Dinosaur being found. The beach was very busy but we eventually found a quiet spot and enjoyed the sunshine.

On the way home we drove behind a great retro looking VW split-screen van in powder blue. I never seem to notice these in the winter but come summer they are all over the place. I bet used van sales go up massively in the sunny months.

There is something strangely tiring about sitting on the beach all day (or maybe it was traipsing through town in search of suncream) and I was in bed by 10pm a shade pinker and a lot more relaxed