"If I only had a brain"

At the risk of sounding fifty years my senior, it's time to have a moan 'grumpy old woman' style at people who communicate outside of text messages with 'text speak'; such as on facebook and twitter. I don't mean the simple 'lol' or 'btw', I mean full blown 'sentences' such as, 'srsly i did dat wen i bin dwn 2 da sprts cntr innit'. The continuing bombardment of 'words' with no real recognisable English anywhere in what they are trying to say. It's like talking to a four year old who has yet to developed pronouncing each phonetical sound in their conversations.

Personally, I have not used 'text speak' since the age of twelve; which was when I realised it made me look like an idiot with nothing more than air between my two listening canals. It was understandable to use abbreviations in 1999 when text's were limited to 160 characters and cost 10p per text message sent. Today though, the majority of people have unlimited text usage and do not have to squeeze everything into one message. Half the time when I'm reading communications, particularly on facebook, which are written in this way I actually have no clue what is being said. I'm not sure if I'm completely out of touch, whether these people are retarded in the English language, or if they are in fact idiot savants who are bilingual with a nonsensical language. Which ever it is, in my opinion they should grow up, buy a dictionary and develop a bit of intellect with their dialog. It's highly annoying to have to spend half and hour decoding a passage of text which would normally take five minutes.

Broken Seal

Ha ha, thought this was an appropriate link with 'seal of approval'.

Flickr Source of Image

Aurora Borealis

Wow! This video of the northern lights is truly beautiful. I think it's high time a trip to the Arctic Circle was scheduled in to see this for real.

BBC News

Tribute to Alexander McQueen

I remember the first time I saw a documentary of Alexander McQueen some six or seven years ago. I was mesmerised at his amazing ability to create a beautiful item of clothing out of one sheet of material. He would literally drape the material around the model, make a few snips to tailor in the waist, then place in some pins. Though this was never for a finished item, it was still just as incredible. The speed in which he could create the rough item and the accuracy was awe inspiring. Through his talent, I was almost influenced to pursue a career in fashion rather than graphic design. It is with great sadness, therefore, that this Friday 11th February we mark the year anniversary of his passing. He was a true inspiration to young fashion designers, which will live on for years to come.

Here are a few of my favourite items from his last collection, winter 2010:

Put a lid on it!

It's time for a little rant as it is becoming a great annoyance that many people are still ignorant to the scientific fact that the toilet lid was invented for a very good reason. Now, before all you ladies move the focus onto the men; we are talking about the lid here, not the seat.

Obviously, we are all subjected to bacteria everyday and have an immune system which naturally fights these off. However, basic cleanliness is still needed to avoid having dangerous levels off these bacteria. Further, it is depended on age and health according to what level one can tolerate. Therefore, cleanliness should be adhered to for other people's well being, not just our own. When a toilet is flushed, droplets of water containing bacteria from the bowl are thrown approximately six to eight feet in the air and can travel a distance of around twenty feet before they settle; sometime up to an hour after a flush. This is why public washrooms often have toilet paper encased in a plastic or metal structure to prevent contamination.

The types of bacteria which can spread are that standard one's associated with faecal matter, such as e-coli; but it can also spread cold and flu viruses. The very simple way to prevent this is by putting the toilet lid down before you flush. Yes most of us will be fine if we don't bother doing this, we may pick up the occasional stomach bug which goes unnoticed by us, or we may pick up a cold; but a prevention is better than cure. Some people are more prone to illness and others are not always able to fight off infection.

It is also of great annoyance when this type of subject is raised, because many people dismiss it is 'paranoid cleanliness'. This is not cleanliness to a high standard, it is cleanliness of a basic standard!

Science Article