KENDRIVE

(Daily Telegraph)

British pomp and pageantry reigned on Tuesday as the Queen welcomed an Indian president to Britain for the first time in almost 20 years.

In the historic town of Windsor the two heads of state met, with the Royal Family putting on a display that left many in the visiting retinue breathless.

Escorted by the Duke of Edinburgh, President Pratibha Patil - India's first female head of state - was invited to inspect the waiting troops as her husband, Dr Devisingh Ransingh Shekhawat, and the Queen looked on from a nearby dais.

The diminutive Asian leader, who wore a sari and cream coloured overcoat, was dwarfed by the guardsmen as she inspected the troops lined up in two rows.

Before lunch he Queen showed President Pratibha Patil Indian items from the Royal collection.

Later in the evening, the Queen held a magnificent white-tie state banquet for her visitors where guests included Conservative leader David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, and author JK Rowling.

One of Windsor Castle's staff puts the final delicate touches to the lavish dinner table.

And guests mingle before taking their seats in the spectacular setting of St. George's Hall in Windsor Castle

Menu

Starter: Delice de Fletan aux Herbes (Halibut with herbs)

Main: Selle d'Agneau Pre-sale Arlesienne (lamb with rosemary and thyme)

Side dishes:
Courgettes Farcies (stuffed courgettes)
Carottes Glacees (glazed carrots)
Pommes Fondantes (fondant potatoes)

Wines:
Meursault les Clous, Patrick Javillier 2000
Chateau Cos d'Estournel, St Estephe 1988
Chateau Doisy-Daene, Barsac 2001
Royal Vintage Port 1963

(From an article in the Daily Mail)

The State visit by the Indian president came just days after yet another gaffe by Prince Philip at a 400-strong Buckingham Palace reception for British Indians

A spokesman for Mr Patel, who heads housing agency the LHA-Asra group, confirmed the conversation took place, but said the 47-year-old executive took it as a joke.

(Daily Telegraph)

StreetStats speed test will allow web users to see how fast friends and neighbours are able to surf the internet

The service, StreetStats, from broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband, collects speed test data from users to build an interactive Google map.

Web users can zoom in on their postcode area to compare the speed of their broadband service with the upload and download speeds their neighbours are achieving. More than 170,000 speed test results have been added to the map so far, and the company behind the scheme hopes to have plotted the speeds of two million users by the end of the year.

A survey by Top 10 Broadband found that four out of 10 people would not move to a house with a poor broadband service, and that low connection speeds would even put them off moving to the area. Six out of 10 of those surveyed said they would be "annoyed and envious" to discover that a neighbour was receiving a better internet service than them.

“Until now broadband speed tests have only let you check your own speed. This is the first time everyone will be able to see what speeds their neighbours are getting and which broadband providers they are signed up to," said Alex Buttle, director of Top 10 Broadband. "Despite all the competition between the major UK broadband providers, there's still huge variation in the speeds their customers receive, even on the same street. This test makes the broadband landscape more transparent than ever."

The tool will also allow web users to compare the service provided by ISPs, and get a clear breakdown of price. It tracks speed trends, enabling users to see average speeds in any area over the last three, six or 12 months, to see how consistent the service is. And it also provides a handy guide showing the real-life implications of upload and download speeds, telling web users how long it will take to download a song or upload their holiday photos.

(Daily Telegraph)

To see some of your neigbours' broadband speeds (not all, go to: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/speedtest/streetstats/

This is my speed this morning:

At 19.4MB download it is the fastest in my neighbourhood.

Rob Gonsalves, born in Toronto in 1959, is a painter of magic realism with a unique perspective and style. He produces original works, limited edition prints and illustrations for his own books.

During his childhood, he developed an interest in drawing from imagination using various media.

By the age of twelve, his awareness of architecture grew as he learn perspective techniques and he began to create his first paintings and renderings of imagined buildings.

(Wikipedia)

(Matt - Daily Telegraph)

London: Strike action by Royal Mail workers in Britain has led to 30 million letters being delayed so far, the company said on Friday.

The revelation came on the second day of a nationwide strike in which 78,000 delivery and collection workers were called out.

Spotted at a harvest festival in Minneapolis, USA

(The Times - "Silly Signs")

Sign in Bermuda

(Times Online)

Sign on a harbour office, near Penzance, Cornwall." From Stephen Salter, London

(The Times)

Perhaps the sign-writer was paid by the letter!

Seen in a bar in Hua Hin, Thailand."
(From Nick Blachford, France)

(The Times)

P.S. Check out my new blog at: http://ME-TALKING.blog.co.uk

Notice in Rhodes

"I know I'm rich and unpopular - but I can't remember if I am a banker or an MP"

I grew up through the late 1930s (yes, I am that old) and I have always been fascinated by the London Underground and the way it led to the urbanisation of the countryside.

The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden is staging an exhibition of photographs and posters of the period, which you can see on this BBC slideshow:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8305000/8305579.stm

Incidentally, the house I have shown at the top of this page, probably costing then £750, was recently sold for £420,000.

John Betjeman enthuses at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clRknPu0CW8

OVER 10 MILLION IN UK HAVE NEVER BEEN ONLINE

More than 10 million adults across the UK have never used the internet, according to a new report commissioned by Martha Lane Fox, the government’s Digital Inclusion Champion.

This means 17 per cent of the entire population have never been online and four million of this group are also socially excluded, because of their economic, employment or housing circumstances.

It also found that all households without the internet are missing out on an average saving of £560 per year. This is because it is cheaper to pay bills online and shop around for the best deals. The four million economically disadvantaged families are missing out on savings of over £1 billion a year.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm commissioned to carry out the research, discovered that the 1.8 million children growing up in digitally excluded families could increase their lifetime earnings by £10.8 billion should they become digitally savvy and that people who are internet literate can earn an average increase in their lifetime earnings of over £8,000.

The report also examined how much money the government could save if it communicated with the majority of the general public digitally, as opposed to face to face, in areas such as job seeking. It concluded that it could save at least £900 million a year if all digitally excluded adults got online and moved to communicating electronically with the government.

(From an article in the Daily Telegraph)

A huge steel sculpture which creates the impression of entering a black hole has been unveiled at the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London.

Visitors can enter and walk around the chamber, which is 98ft (30m) long, 43ft (13m) high and 33ft (10m) wide.

The sculpture is called "How It Is" and is by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka.

The Warsaw-born artist has created a piece that the gallery fully expects will unnerve and unsettle visitors. The structure is enormous – 30 metres long, 10m wide and 13m high – and once inside it, visitors will walk into complete blackness hoping – presumably – that they don't then bump or knock into fellow art-lovers.

Tate Modern said health and safety had been on its mind and the space will be regularly patrolled by attendants with torches.

Balka is alluding to many things in the work – the biblical Plague of Darkness, black holes in space, images of hell – but curator Helen Sainsbury said reactions to the work would differ.

"Each one of us will approach this work and experience it very differently," she said. "For some it may be an incredibly sombre experience, for most it will be unnerving. For others there will be something quite comforting about going into a space like this full of strangers, yet being aware of each other."

Balka has been working on the piece, from concept to installation, for a year. Asked what his first reaction on walking into the completed container was, he said: "Whoa. It works."

The title, How It Is, is taken from Samuel Beckett's novel of the same name and Balka said the piece should be seen as being about everything and nothing. "There is no one single direct inspiration for the piece and the words of the artist are not so important. The work is important. It is good or bad. It works or it does not work."

(The Guardian)

See more at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8303001.stm

I am not sure that I would like to go inside this structure and I would certainly hang on to my wallet and other private possessions!

"BUFFOONING SIMPLETONS"?

The multinational chocolate firm Cadbury has been accused of racism and perpetuating "colonial stereotypes" of African people in its latest advertising campaign. A poster and television advert created in Ghana for Dairy Milk has infuriated a number of prominent equality campaigners and Ghanaian leaders in the UK.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) meets this week to discuss initiating a formal investigation into Cadbury's TV advert – slogan "show us your cocoa beam" – which features a giant, negroid rotating head that unleashes mass dancing among what appear to be highly excitable people in an African village.

The advert and an associated poster campaign mark the chocolate firm's move to Fairtrade, but critics say this move has been overshadowed by the campaign's portrayal of African people as "buffooning simpletons".

Toyin Agbetu, the founder of Ligali, a UK-based African human rights organisation, said: "The video makes Africans look like buffooning simpletons. The biggest presence on the advert is a giant mask that people fall about in front of. Part of being able to use the Fairtrade brand should also include a responsibility to advertise ethically."

Kwame Nkrumah-Agyapong of Ghanaian Migrants Information Services said the campaign had caused outrage among the Ghanaian diaspora. "I've been called by loads of people about this advert. Ghanaians are very laid-back people, so for them even to voice this shows there's a problem. People feel it's racist and it doesn't present an accurate picture of Ghana."

Cadbury said it had been made aware of the ASA complaints and was co-operating fully. Phil Rumbol, the marketing director at Cadbury, said: "We completely reject these allegations. This campaign has been widely welcomed by Ghanaians, including community leaders both in Ghana and in the UK."

(Abridged from an article in the Independent)

See the video and judge for yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ktLtvinZBs

To me - a lot of happy people seem to be enjoying themselves.

"Nice to see you"

"This 18th-floor, elevated, 110ft-long rooftop pool, the largest in the United States, overlooks Miami Beach and downtown and has fabulous ocean views.

Fringed by colourful cabanas and sun loungers, the pool is set within a 26,000 sq ft Brazilian walnut-decked adults-only roof terrace, which is also home to 'Plunge', a bar with oversize white-cushioned couches, chairs, umbrellas and towering 20ft palm trees.

The roof terrace ‘scene’ starts early and goes on late with sushi, champagne and Evian spritzes on tap all day, DJs spinning tunes until late into the night and even the odd fashion show.

'Plunge' is open to everyone, but the pool is guest-only."

(Daily Telegraph)

I have checked today's weather forecast for Miami and it will be 33C (91F), although partly cloudy.

NO CONSUMPTION OF HUMANS (EXCEPT BABIES)

"I feel my life is slipping away. I've only another 48 years of not working until I retire."

(Mac in the Daily Mail)

Sign at Chester-le-Street Leisure Centre

GO BEFORE YOU FLY

A Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, has started asking its passengers to visit the lavatory before boarding, in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.

It reasons that empty bladders means lighter passengers, which in turn means lighter aircraft and lower fuel use.

The airline will position staff near the boarding gates in terminals to ask passengers waiting for their flight to relieve themselves before boarding the aircraft.

It hopes that the weight saved will lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of a month.

(Telegraph Online)

"Taken in New Delhi next to Connaught Place. It is the name of an Italian restaurant."

(The Times)

(Daily Telegraph)