EightBit.Me

Will Twitter-based social networking gizmo/ iPhone app EightBit.Me capture the public’s imagination? Explained to me as ‘like foursquare squared’, I worry I may be 2square to appreciate its possibilities. There again, at the time of its invention, I couldn’t see how the wheel might enrich my existence. So, silencing my Luddite inner voice, I say ‘tell me more, dude!’ First, you recreate yourself as an old skool computer game-style 8-bit character - in my case, Woody from Toy Story in Allan Carr’s bins and an Orphan Annie wig is a vast improvement on the real McCoy - then your pixelated mini-me roams a realm where checking into venues and Tweetable ‘shouts’ win prizes and….. hold on! Why am I concerned with such vacuous ventures?  Didn’t I used to have a life? Friends that weren’t just avatars? Stop the world, I want to get off...preferably, on activities non-virtual. Besides, the backlash has already begun (see http://.eightshit.me/) 

Blogjammed

I’m a sucker for an enlightening blog: Southern Sudan's Northern Soul Scene; 2,000 Ways With Wasabi; Big Fat Gay Inuit Weddings. The problem with the ultimate form of vanity self-publishing is that too many blogs are just too ruddy wordy. Bookmarked for future reference, are hundreds I’ll never actually find time to read. Blog-jammed, I feel anxious (am I missing The Next Big Thing?) and simultaneously narked (life was a breeze before we got enmeshed in the Web). Self-important food and fashion bloggers are among the worst offenders. I could hunt down, cook and scoff an organic, sustainably sourced, twenty-course Mughal feast faster than it takes some Marina-manqué to describe her ‘unique dinning (sic) experience’ at a Glossop gastro/gastritis-pub’s all-you-can-eat buffet. Pics and captions, not a thesis, are all we need from an alt Emmanuelle Alt to appreciate Lanvin’s new collection. Blog, but blog concisely, you verbose bluggers!