A glance at the week that was
5The number of years since the first tweet was sent.
140 millionThe average number of tweets sent globally each day.
10The number of Seanad candidates prioritised on a list by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin
6,000The number of extra hours per month of traffic monitoring facilitated by the network of privatised speed cameras in operation from this weekend.
200,000The number of people who gave an RSVP to an Australian schoolgirl's Facebook invitation to her 16th birthday party.
140,000The number of people ordered to seal themselves indoors after an explosion at the Fukishima nuclear plant in Japan.
We now know...
Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton, have asked guests to make charitable donations rather than give wedding presents. No toasters, okay, ya?
Obesity drugs have been prescribed by 75 per cent of GPs in Ireland.
A Chinese coal baron has purchased a red Tibetan mastiff dog called Big Splash (Hong Dong in Chinese) for just over €1 million.
The queen is barred from the Player’s Bar in Fairview, Dublin. She is thought to be devastated.
Create your own Ireland
For the week that’s in it Tourism Ireland has introduced a game allowing Facebook users to create their own virtual Irish town. Modelled on the Farmville game, players are invited to create their idyllic town in Ireland with the help of a “tour guide”. They can also explore iconic sites aaround the island, completing various challenges designed to promote Ireland’s tourist attractions. Ireland Town players who are sticklers for detail can also create virtual Irish towns featuring ghost estates, Nama hotels and bustling dole offices. Maybe.
Crimes against daffs
In a Wordsworthian parable for our times, three little girls frolicking among a host of golden daffodils found themselves at the centre of a police investigation in England this week. A passing councillor witnessed this sinister scene at Whitecliff Park in Dorset and informed the police. Two intrepid officers observed the girls for 20 minutes or so before telling their parents that if they didn’t leave the park the girls would be arrested for theft. “It’s just another example of Broken Britain,” said the comedian Frank Skinner.
