Google Maps mania and sixty-somethings rocking their retirement, all in this week’s Blog Digest.
Rick O’Shea (pictured)
RTÉ 2FM radio DJ Rick O’Shea is a bit of a pop culture king really, isn’t he? But unlike other radio or TV personalities, the man is also a social media guru. You name it (Bebo, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) and he’s on it.
He has also been blogging for years (indeed his blog is very well known), and his award-winning corner of the interweb is always entertaining – a shrine to his huge appetite for all things cultural and digital. I go there for some giggle therapy, or if I feel like I have read the entire web and want some inspiration.
I’m one of those people that automatically google maps everything. Where are we meeting for lunch? I google it, route it out and print it, or access it from my phone. I know, I should actually learn where things are, but I’m a modern web junkie and if there aren’t directions online I tend to get panicky.
There are plenty of other cool things one can do with Google Maps though, as this blog shows. When a clever clogs combines specific information with mapping functionality, a mash-up is created. For example, you could have an interactive map of all your local wine bars and delicatessens. Deliciously useful.
On leaving the rat race, where does one head to spend their golden years in a state of rest and relaxation? It seems as though half of the US ups sticks to Florida, wears pastel slacks, plays golf, yadda, yadda.
I stumbled across this blog and found a Northern Irish-born gentlemen who has decide to relocate to the US (at the tender age of 56) for six months of the year, and I must say it is interesting to see what he thinks of US culture now as a retired European.
He talks us through fresh meat at the supermarket or a visit to the dentist, but this is far from mundane stuff – more like Adrian Mole, the twilight years.
Does your choice of car or perhaps shoes say much about you? Arguably yes, but these days your mobile phone speaks volumes. Are you sporty? A movie buff? Mix business with pleasure?
Finding the phone that broadcasts this can be baffling because about 20 squillion new ones come on the market every week. Engadget Mobile, which is a subsection of the main Engadget consumer tech site, is great at keeping you up to date. One thing though, it is a US site so not all shiny new phones listed there are out in the Irish market yet.
By Marie Boran
