Here we bloody go again. I forget just how many times I've ranted about this 'the internet is for young people' nonsense. I've also ranted about how geo-location apps and mobile marketing and so forth are 'for young people'. Now, it's Twitter evidently.
This particular rant has been caused by the #iamspartacus affair, which I'm sure you know about, unless you've been on the moon all week. Well, that's wrong isn't it, because NASA astronauts tweet from space. But still...
There are many, many, MANY things I'd like to rant about regarding that case, such as the way our freedom of speech is in serious jeopardy, about how very dumb the whole situation is, how the judicial system needs to get itself into this century, about the way that the tweet is reported with the word 'shit' shown as **** - hell, we can't even say 'shit' now, things are getting bad.
But I am going to confine myself to ranting about the ageist, ridiculous - oh, what the hell - moronic remarks by the 'judge' about 'older people'.
This chap, you see, in the UK, was frustrated and angry that his local airport was closed due to bad weather. He desperately wanted to fly to Ireland. (I know...) So he tweeted, to his friends, that if the airport didn't get its shit together, he would blow it sky high.
What people don't seem to understand is that, if I (an English person) was to say "I could murder an Indian" it doesn't mean that I would intend to shoot an Asian. It simply means "wow, I'd love a curry".
Well of course, the only thing that got blown up was the tweet - out of all proportion - and the cops arrested this chap. Yes, I am a terrorist. Yes, I chose Doncaster Airport as my target and yes, I tweeted my intentions... dead right.
Which brings me back to the judge - a person who clearly has no idea what Twitter is. She made a remark in court, and I'm paraphrasing because I can't find a transcript, "what if an older couple had seen it? They would have been alarmed".
Excuse me? I am 'older'. Does that mean I'm stupid? Does that mean I don't understand life? I've been on the planet for longer than most people so I think that actually, I understand a great deal. As an 'older person' why would that tweet have alarmed me and not a 'young person'?
Several month ago, my son tweeted "I am 33. My mum is on Twitter. Now, my GRANDDAD is on Twitter". His granddad is 86 years old. And on Twitter.
So someone tell me, what is this 'older couple' shit? Sorry, I mean ****.
There are many, many, MANY things I'd like to rant about regarding that case, such as the way our freedom of speech is in serious jeopardy, about how very dumb the whole situation is, how the judicial system needs to get itself into this century, about the way that the tweet is reported with the word 'shit' shown as **** - hell, we can't even say 'shit' now, things are getting bad.
But I am going to confine myself to ranting about the ageist, ridiculous - oh, what the hell - moronic remarks by the 'judge' about 'older people'.
This chap, you see, in the UK, was frustrated and angry that his local airport was closed due to bad weather. He desperately wanted to fly to Ireland. (I know...) So he tweeted, to his friends, that if the airport didn't get its shit together, he would blow it sky high.
What people don't seem to understand is that, if I (an English person) was to say "I could murder an Indian" it doesn't mean that I would intend to shoot an Asian. It simply means "wow, I'd love a curry".
Well of course, the only thing that got blown up was the tweet - out of all proportion - and the cops arrested this chap. Yes, I am a terrorist. Yes, I chose Doncaster Airport as my target and yes, I tweeted my intentions... dead right.
Which brings me back to the judge - a person who clearly has no idea what Twitter is. She made a remark in court, and I'm paraphrasing because I can't find a transcript, "what if an older couple had seen it? They would have been alarmed".
Excuse me? I am 'older'. Does that mean I'm stupid? Does that mean I don't understand life? I've been on the planet for longer than most people so I think that actually, I understand a great deal. As an 'older person' why would that tweet have alarmed me and not a 'young person'?
Several month ago, my son tweeted "I am 33. My mum is on Twitter. Now, my GRANDDAD is on Twitter". His granddad is 86 years old. And on Twitter.
So someone tell me, what is this 'older couple' shit? Sorry, I mean ****.
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