It seams as if I can’t go a few hours without someone mentioning the Twitter revolution and predictably all of the trade press have devoted multiple page spreads to extolling the “next big thing” in social property. I’m calling it Twitterganda!

For those of you who have, somewhat miraculously and / or fortunately, not come across Twitter thus far, here’s a quick debrief;

Twitter is a free social networking and micro blogging service that allows users to send small (140 characters) text based updates (otherwise known as “tweets”- aaah how cute!) to their own profile page where they can then be viewed or delivered to any user who has opted-in to receive your various pearls of wisdom, location updates, or even more intriguingly, what you might have had for breakfast.

Probably, the most accurate way of viewing Twitter is a condensed Facebook “status updates” service, which is my point entirely. What does Twitter offer users on and above Facebook from a functionality standpoint. The short answer is…………nothing!! Conversely, (my attempt to offer a balanced argument) Twitter does give users access to “Tweets” from the various celebs and zed listers eager to jump on its short lived (fingers crossed) band wagon. Whilst donning my media hat, Twitter does offer scope for celeb / influencer brand or product advocacy and should be used by all brands as a source of chatter review – there I’ve said something positive!!
Honestly guys, have I missed something here?! Is there something genius to Twitter that I’ve somehow overlooked which is going to secure it’s place in Comscore rankings for more than 2 years tops? I know they reached the golden 1 mill user mark but surely this is a short term reaction of the public based on pure curiosity alone?!

I’m well aware that now Gareth has left that I’m the sole remaining rugga bugga in the office, but as Apples has so passionately written about his kickball team I thought I should rant about the current state of English rugby union.

I’m off to Twickenham tomorrow in the vain hope that England can salvage something against the Irish or at the very least, demonstrate a degree of passion and pride in their rugby which they have so far failed to maintain. Harsh I know, but it’s only right that following a WC final place that the country should expect better, irrespective of squad retirements and new personnel.

Also, consider the central reason why the England team reached the finals in the first place? Well it had nothing to do Brian Ashton, that’s for sure. It is well documented that following the group stage whitewash at the hands of South Africa, the squad collectively agreed to ignore Ashton’s approach to each game and concentrate on playing for each other. Subsequently, the England team stopped trying to play a brand of rugby that was alien to them and slowly ground wins out in the forwards – ugly but effective!!

The current squad have maintained their professionalism thus far and have remained tight lipped when questioned about Ashton’s management but the lack of player respect is clear to see. And to think that if the RFU selectors had showed a little more backbone and disposed of him after the WC, the England team might now be governed by Shaun Edwards who has revived Welsh rugby this year, or even Jake White who led South Africa to WC glory and also shown an interest in the role. *

Prior to this season’s 6 Nations, Ian Balshaw was regarded as the 5/6th rated full back in top flight rugby and despite some truly shocking performances has kept the 15 shirt. I’ve not doubt that the Irish team have spent their last training week practising their Garry Owens to target his incapacity under the high ball. It appears that Ashton will do anything to keep his “special friend” in the team, leading to the latest off pitch saga – “Ciprianigate”. True, it was a lack of judgement on his part but should have never resulted in his exclusion.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I must admit that a loss against Ireland tomorrow might just be what England need and it would undoubtedly result in Ashton’s long awaited retirement from the game and allow for us to start building for the next World Cup.

Right….rant over – that feels better!!

* http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/16/urnwhite116.xml

For those of you saving up to buy a swanky new Plasma of LCD screen you might want to hold off for a while……

Have been looking into OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology recently and save for a few development issues, its potential application is very impressive. So much so that Sony have already stuck $203MM into its progression.

This video gives a good intro into what it’s all about;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoxaMAA1jjM

Now for the techie bit – it works by sandwiching self-luminating diodes made from natural chemicals in-between flexible plastic – very cool!!! Your current TV is a little on the fat side because it needs a backlight but stuff only needs a fraction of power to work (2-6 volts – Greenpeace will be onboard) and can be as size zero as just a few millimetres – think wallpapering your house with this stuff!

Like any display it can be interactive (Minority Report was spot on) and play audio-visual media. There have been a few prototypes mobiles where you actually rollout the touch screen display; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDuP8PtDJbE.

The only thing holding OLED screens back from your local Dixons is its 3-4 yr lifetime but I’m sure with a few extra mill that’ll get resolved!

TV prototypes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rMFZ4O_oLs