The BBC’s Olympic advice…

Tips to get ahead in Beijing – Must remember this…”A smile in China doesn’t necessarily mean the smile is happy. If someone is confused, or nervous, they may well smile.”

Funny t-shirts on Oxford Street

Ever since J bought this t-shirt (in Thailand?), I’ve always felt that my wardrobe was missing a ‘comedy t-shirt’:

But which one should I go for? I could try for maximum shock value:

Or something geeky / funny:

Or something true:

But since I’m in the UK for pleasure and not business…one really stood out:

See the new Facebook design now!

Facebook has been redesigned, and here’s how to see the new look: go to http://www.new.facebook.com and log in with your email and password!

The immediate thing I noticed was how wide the page is now, and how much white space there is! Gone are the hundreds of applications and widgets on the front page, with the now extended wall taking pride of place.

Tabs along the top of each profile now group your different types of information – and thankfully there is one for ‘boxes’…which means that your 2,000,000 ‘buy your friend a chicken’ apps will be hidden from view! It’s like a super-Facebook-vacuum has just obliterated all the filth from everyone’s profiles…

Photo galleries have been designed to be more intuitive (no more having to click three or four times to view someone’s gallery list).

Finally, check out how nice the wall is now! Different colours for comments and ‘actions’ (like joining groups and attending events). We’ll see how fast the people at Facebook roll out this redesign to the ‘live’ audience, but for now…have a look yourself! Remember, go to:

http://www.new.facebook.com

and log in with your email and password!

Ha-p-b-day

When I went to pick up my stuff from Tulip’s place I didn’t imagine to find a brand new NIU NAI T-SHIRT!

Thanks so much! It’s just a shame I can’t wear it as I’m so mature now…yep…whole new lifestyle starting today…yep…

I’ve spent the day doing my taxes and website formatting…if that’s not beng responsible then I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS!

Bodean’s BBQ, Soho

Bodean’s is my favourite restaurant in London. It offers every ingredient in my perfect meal mix…meat, cold beer and American sports. Seriously, what else could possibly improve on that? (Answer: Strippers)

So there have been some changes since last I visited: new menu items, new serving styles and I reckon they’ve opened a couple more restaurants across town. Business must be good!

I went for the KC Brisket Special, which is beef brisket (ok I admit that I thought ‘brisket’ was a reference to how it is cooked or something, but Wikipedia tells me that it’s actually a cut):

So they cook it really slowly in marinade or something…and it turns out great! So there’s a load of that, plus onion rings and cheese inside a big ass bun:

It was served in a basket as opposed to the big tray which I was expecting, and i’m not sure if I’m just resistant to change or I was genuinely disappointed to see it. It definitely didn’t feel like there was enough space to spread out the food (which I like to do there). Ok this is starting to sound a bit weird…CLOSE UP:

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It was god damn amazing. One of the best bits of it was that it came ‘naked’ (without sauce), so I was able to put a bit of BBQ on it without drowning it (as they sometimes do).

J and Fiona had a full rack of ribs each (I think it’s a Deloitte thing). As I’m not a professional at eating ribs, I’ll hand over to J for his guide to ribbing:

Step 1 – Receive order

Step 2 – Preparation

Step 3 – Dexter-style OCD bone cleaning

Dentons in the news!

Oh, I mean Denton…

“As Stephanie Martinez was getting money out of a cash drawer, a co-worker, Rudy Sandoval, fought back against the intruder, knocking off his wig and sunglasses

[....]

Whe she saw the face behind the wig and dark glasses, “I dropped the money,” Ms. Martinez said. “I said, ‘Don’t hit him again! That’s my dad!’ And he said, ‘What’s he doing here?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know!’”

Click here for more…

Comments in Facebook minifeed

Logging in to Facebook this morning, I noticed that you can now comment on individual Mini-Feed items. The comments stay on the mini-feed (minimized until you click on the ’1 comment’ (or whatever number) link) and then cascade out.

This is obviously one of the reasons for which Facebook now requires the Mini-Feed not be minimized…but will people start using this ‘mini wall’ to comment on friends’ items instead of the wall? And why would they choose to do this?

It also seems straange that a comment on a note in the mini-feed is not added to the note itself, which could lead to confusion down the line.

Comment away!

Is bigger really better?

When a girl looks for clothes, she pictures herself wearing them. Not in a changing room, but in a real-life situation. If she sees a cocktail dress in the window of a boutique in Soho, in her mind she is immediately transplanted into an upmarket bar full of (probably sleazy) Spanish (probably footballing) millionaires, accepting the third offer of a bottle of champagne which one particularly handsome (probably gay) man is sending to her table.

When men look for electronics, they do the same. If I’m looking at a small MP3 player, I picture myself jogging through a huge park on a sunny day, wearing an old (but trendy) cut-off t-shirt, with it strapped to my (bulging) arm as I sweat through the pain barrier to the sound of ‘Eye of the Tiger’. I have a small MP3 player, and I’ve jogged with it once. The reality is very far from the fantasy.

That all changed today though.

When I was looking for a laptop back at Christmas time, for the first time in my life size was not at the top of my list of desires. If I have ever (and I mean EVER) had the opportunity to upgrade, supersize or trade-up on a product (hello 19″ monitor, goodbye room-space) I have done it…but size was not a part of my fantasy life for this laptop.

The fantasy was simple: I would get on a flight with my latop bag as my only carry-on luggage, get to my seat (and not be cramped to hell), open my bag and get my slim and light laptop out and type away, safe in the knowledge that the battery had more than enough juice left in it for me to get a blog post finished and a few pictures edited.

Today, that fantasy became a reality. I am writing from my emergency exit seat (thanks Blue1!), with a can of Lapin Kulta (thanks Finnish breweries!) by my side, looking out at the fabolous view of an ocean (North Sea? South Sea? Mediteranean?), puncturing fluffy clouds as we hurtle towards Finland. And typing. On my 14″ screen laptop. A laptop which I was offered a 1″ upgrade on in store for nothing. I turned it down.

I have been liberated from the need to always go the biggest option – now I’m in control and I choose what is the best for my needs – and I choose small. I’m happy. I’m ecstatic. The old sayin is true – It’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it that counts.

Here’s the view to my left. Wow.

Now where’s my penis-pump? I heard that they work 100 times better at altitude…

Traditional English Breakfast

Look, I’m not obsessed with breakfast…in fact I hardly ever have it…but I just couldn’t resist today. A traditional English breakfast:

Cheerios and tea…

..

..

and a Krispy Kreme muahhahaha