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dan barker

@danbarker

26 Jul

I went to the Marble Arch Mound today. It cost £2 million to build, and today was launch day, but it was still quite quiet.

Here is a short thread with info.

First, the original plan drawings and the marketing description do not quite match reality.

These plans never match reality, but it feels like they could probably clean the area up a bit.

It also seems the team who planned it perhaps designed it in Winter and forgot about the trees already in the area, which change the impression of it vs the plans.

I'd joked before that it cost 6p per step to climb it, as the 'fast track' price was £8.

That seems to have dropped to £6.50, meaning it is a more affordable 5p per step to climb the 130ish steps. (the marketing info describes this as an experience of the 'great outdoors')

Read 16 tweets

dan barker

@danbarker

25 Jun

@DavidVidecette

@DavidVidecette Hi, David, I think your impression of the geography of the office is incorrect.

Here is the CCTV in the office. Note the planter on the balcony outside, the brackets on the wall, the shelf beneath the brackets, the red fire 'break glass' point between the windows...

@DavidVidecette

@DavidVidecette Compare those vs the same elements in this shot of Matt in an office.

Note the coat stand here, with hi vis hanging on it. Note the door there.

That would place the CCTV in the red circle here.

@DavidVidecette

@DavidVidecette Here is another shot of Matt in the same spot (left). You get a better view of the coat stand with the hi vis, and the door, and the TVs on the wall.

The CCTV would therefore point at that door area.

You see the same TV, coat stand, and hi vis in the Sun's video (right).

Read 4 tweets

dan barker

@danbarker

22 Jun

In case you're wondering where 'One Britain One Nation Day' has come from:

It's not a government campaign. It's run by a guy called Kash Singh. He trademarked it in 2005, when he was a policeman.

It's sprung to attention because the Department for Education tweeted this today.

Various Twitter commentators positioned it as "Boris Johnson's" strategy, and claimed it was organised by the "Union Unit".

It is not Boris Johnson's strategy, and the overall idea has been around since 2005, so obviously not created by the (2019/20 founded) Union Unit.

It's actually popularised by Philip Davies MP and Esther McVey MP (who are married).

Philip has known Kash Singh for many years (Philip is MP for Shipley; Kash is a former West Yorkshire policeman, and lived in nearby Keighley)

Read 8 tweets

dan barker

@danbarker

22 Jun

What do these 2 big 'culture war' stories this week have in common?

1. M&S launches new underwear range 'inspired by George Floyd'.
2. St Paul's Girls' School no longer using the term 'head girl' because it's 'too binary'.

The answer is, oddly, neither is quite what it seems.

The 'George Floyd Underwear' story: The Daily Mail tweet that popularised the idea he 'inspired' it is below.

If you open the image, you can see the DM tweet says 'inspired by George Floyd' in quotes, as if M&S said that. But the article itself does not contain that quote at all

If you read the M&S press release, this is the only mention of George Floyd (bwlo).

Ie: The Daily Mail seem to have picked that up & summarised it as inspired by George Floyd, and added quotes around that phrase, which people read as if that's what M&S have actually said.

Read 7 tweets

dan barker

@danbarker

11 May

A few weeks ago, there were a couple of popular tweets declaring that the "mad umbrella shop" and "mad sailor shop" in London had survived the pandemic.

It is with regret that I report that the "mad sailor shop", Arthur Beale's, is closing, one of the oldest shops in London.

If you've ever passed the shop, you've probably noticed the sign says "Established Four Centuries".

Nobody knows exactly how old it is, but there is a card in the British Museum from 1791 showing it was already a well-established business at that point.

I often post photos of their brilliant shop windows. Here's one from a couple of years ago, where they had a full moving underwater scene.

Read 15 tweets

dan barker

@danbarker

11 Apr

https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1381259805436870656

Here is another example of a viral story that is not really a story at all:

The Royal Yacht, The Telegraph, The Independent, and Prince Philip.

I'm sure most people realise, but here is a short note on what's actually happened...

https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1381259805436870656

In the tweet above, The Independent ask:

"Would you like to see a £190million Royal Yacht built as a memorial to Prince Philip...?"

You'll note: The question is in a form that is easy to quote tweet, adding an angry comment, without any need for anyone to visit the article.

@ianbetteridge

The tweet poses a "Yes/No" question. We are all trained to realise that whenever a newspaper asks a yes/no question, the answer is almost always "No".

(often known as 'Betteridge's Law of Headlines" (albeit not a headline here), after @ianbetteridge, or sometimes "Davis' Law")

Read 25 tweets

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