The People Photographer
The People Photographer
Tube strikes… Inconvenience and disruption… Localities and real-time information… Movement and behaviour of people… All things that fascinate me. It’s got me thinking… Say hello to the #tweetbike (the one on the left). The #tweetbike will be heading into London…
Miscommunication is as old as communication. The dark side of all interconnectivity is its power to transmit the salacious, the fictitious, the misguided – often virally, often uncontrollably. From the very first email: “virus warning, tell all your friends” there’s…
A few inevitable comments are buzzing out there on @dirdigeng. As with any high-profile newcomer to the twitterverse, the most obvious being: “but why aren’t they following anyone?” Which is usually shorthand for: “why aren’t they following me?” So here’s…
Perhaps I’ve got this entirely wrong. And if so, set me straight, here. But I’ve been analysing Twitter – what it is, why it works, what makes it unique. It’s just the way my brain likes to do things. And…
If you aren’t clear about what you mean in any discussion you haven’t got much chance of staying on track. Think about the phrase “open government”. Here are seven possible interpretations (there are probably more, do add them) which can…
An interesting discussion last week: straying into the moral minefield of charitable giving, the issue of Gift Aid came up. (A small warning here. If you’re the treasurer of a charity, you’re probably not going to like this very much.…
I’ve been asked the same few questions by so many friends now, I thought I’d share what worked for me in 10 easy tips: 1. It’s not like Facebook or LinkedIn – there are no easy hooks like old friendship or job…
It’s over a year since I wrote the first part of this. I was trying to show how there was something very strange going on in the way we’re generally told that music works; something that when I found about…
Dear Arun Would you mind confirming the first line of your address, your postcode and your date of birth? Thought so. It’s not much of a way to begin a conversation, is it? So imagine how things went last Thursday…
An interesting few days. Saturday spent with like-minded public information enthusiasts exploring new ways of using and reusing information here. Not just for the sake of it, but in pursuit of better services, engagement and communities. Sunday, resting and getting…
Just before I get down to putting the lunch on, I glance at Twitter. @davebriggs says it’s just started snowing. A few seconds later, @stephenfry also reports a few flakes. @paul_clarke isn't cool or dedicated enough to know Mr Fry’s precise whereabouts, but I’ve got a vague idea of Norfolk or north London, and I have a reasonable idea where Dave is.
This gets me thinking about a wave of “it’s starting to snow” tweets that I know are going to be appearing. What might that look like on a map? As a historical picture of advancing snow fronts, or even a live, dynamic view of where the flakes will land next. Powered by the people actually experiencing it. On a scale and level of detail unachievable by any formal organisation (that I know of).
So I thought about a hashtag: #uksnowstarts or something like that. Another glance at the mobile, and I see #uksnow. Ah, beaten to it – oh well – so what’s this about then? Turns out #uksnow is starting to bubble with reports from weather-obsessed Brits about whether they have (or indeed have not) seen floaty white stuff in the air. >
Here’s the really easy one: last woman to be hanged in the UK? Ruth Ellis. Right. Well done. Oh, just out of interest – why do you remember that? The film perhaps? The iconic peroxide hair? Or because an executed woman is more horribly memorable? You probably don’t know the name of the last person with learning difficulties, or the last gay man, or any other particular notable ‘last hanging’. To be fair, I can’t imagine many of these are that well recorded (but happy to stand corrected).
So who was the last man to be hanged in the UK? (…slipping the really hard question in with wide-eyed innocence…) C’mon – it must be the last person as well… No idea? Really? You might have a few guesses at some of the more famous departees via the gallows. Evans? Hanratty? Nope.
Don’t worry, pretty much nobody knows the answer. Certainly not in comparison to the number who can reel off “Ruth Ellis”. It’s a second question – why this is so – that really fascinated me when I first stumbled across it. And what makes it worthy of a look at the story behind the story. >