On Monday createsend.com revealed that FaceBook reaches more people than actually exist:
“This week it was reported that Facebook was claiming to reach 41 million Americans between the ages of 18-24. If Facebook reached every American between 18 and 24 they'd still be 10 million short. There are only 31 million of them”
http://createsend.com/t/d-C9E20F13D84C1EB1
The ability to invent people will no doubt come in handy when Mr Creepy runs for president - anyone who screws his partners and confuses ‘friends’ with friends is going to need all the help he can get.
On Tuesday, Apple unveiled the new iPhone X. Personally I would rather read ‘Top Tips for Train-spotters’ than investigate the latest technological fashion statement, but I mention it because of a Tim Price tweet, which I found rather amusing.
It includes a still from the balcony scene of ‘The Life of Brian’…the one where Brian’s mum tells the masses that he’s a very naughty boy…and is accompanied by the following caption:
‘Rapturous crowd welcomes launch of the iMcGuffin, the new AI smartphone that will email your fridge when someone’s hacked your toaster’
That sums it up rather well I think.
Tuesday also marked the release of Hillary Clinton’s latest work of fiction ‘What happened’. Bookshelves and tables throughout the western world creaked under the weight of several tons of arboreal splendour that had been cruelly felled, sliced and tattooed with the deluded ramblings of a bitter old politician. Here’s a snippet on the subject of authoritarianism (AKA that nasty Trump)
“Attempting to define reality is a core feature of authoritarianism (right so far Hills). This is what the Soviets did when they erased political dissidents from historical photos (right again). This is what happens in George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty Four, when a torturer holds up four fingers and delivers electric shocks until his prisoner sees five fingers as ordered (three in a row, go gal!). The goal is to make you question logic and reason and to sow mistrust toward exactly the people we need to rely on: our leaders, the press, experts who seek to guide public policy”…What?!...The message of 1984 is that we should trust our leaders? Are you out of your mind…have you even read the book…do you have an editor who’s read the book…does the nurse know you left the ward unattended…
Anyway, enough on that; I look forward to her next book which will no doubt explain how Aldous Huxley’s classic ‘Brave New World’ was a plea for more government intervention.
Nothing happened on Wednesday but that’s mainly because it was half day closing in Wales – nothing happens on Wednesday afternoon where I live…it’s bliss.
On Thursday, the Guardian ran a piece entitled ‘Amazon redacts one-star reviews of Hillary Clinton’s What Happened’
Apparently Amazon were concerned that they were getting a lot of one star reviews from people who were ‘Non-Amazon Verified Purchasers’. This is code for ‘people we can dismiss as not having read the book’. Fortunately such standards were not applied at the general election, since judging by the paucity of her crowds, she got a lot of votes from people who hadn’t read the book.
But the thing that most struck me about this story is that Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos. That's right - a guy who owns a newspaper, sells books, and works for the CIA…apparently hasn’t read 1984 either.
And now to Friday…a couple of hours ago I saw a clip of students protesting Ben Shapiro’s speech at UC Berkeley. In this latest assault on irony, the students are chanting:
‘Speech is violent, we will not be silent’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zs98unw0W0
Oh how the mighty fall. In 1967 UC Berkeley was the cradle of free speech, opposed to the Vietnam War, and passionate about banning the use of a chemical weapon known as napalm. In 2017 it's a cradle for the safe space, opposed to free speech, and passionate about banning the incorrect use of pronouns.
Don’t worry though…the revolution hasn’t been cancelled, it’s just been moved to a nice room with crayons and stuff.
Have a good weekend
Mark