Siri to keep you company in future cars

Discovery News reveals that Siri, the voice assistant from Apple, will be put in cars in the near future- so we can ask our niggling questions as we drive and send our messages safely and legally. Apple says that the system will be "eyes free" so it will reduce the distraction it causes the driver. The phone's screen won't light up when a voice command is received, for example.

Apple announced the move at its Worldwide Developer Conference where they revealed that BMW, General Motors, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda were the car manufacturers who will implement it first. It's likely to hit the first production models in the next 12 months. 

Pretty cool, huh?

Image: Apple

Good news: Danny Boyle goes for 'countryside' in the capital for Olympics opening ceremony

Danny Boyle, director of 'Slumdog Millionaire' and '127 Hours', has unveiled his countryside concept for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. This is pure Boyle's vision, to be named "Green and Pleasant" and will feature a real oak tree, fields, meadows and streams with real farmyard animals grazing on the land. There will be a menagerie of 30 sheep, 12 horses, three cows, two goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, nine geese and three sheepdogs. I hope they won't be freaked out by the noise of the million-watt sound system and the 80,000 fans watching in the stadium! 

There will be families having picnics, people playing cricket on the village green and what I think is the best part of the quirky set- four giant clouds suspended by wires which will rain down (if the British weather doesn't do that by itself).

The set will also feature a Glastonbury Tor and two mosh pits: one representing Glastonbury and the other, Last Night of the Proms (or the 'posh pit'). Boyle hopes they will do battle and "face off each other during the evening".

Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' is another influence on the show and is about 'a land recovering from its industrial legacy'. Europe's biggest bell will ring to signal the start of the show, as bells did in London to signal peace at the end of WW2. The enormous bell is inscribed with a quote from Caliban 'Be not afeard, the isle full of noises'.

The opening ceremony is predicted to have a worldwide audience of one billion people and will involve a cast of 10,000, including NHS nurses, to bring Boyle's vision to life.


Although the model looks like a school project in its present state, I hope the final show will be spectacular in a quirky, imaginative way. I was surprised by Boyle's choice- I thought it would be, ummm...cooler. It seems a little too quaint, a little too 'Daily Mail' and not representative or dynamic enough. Is this the Britain we want to portray to the world? It looks a bit like Teletubby land from here. Boyle has said  “It is not an easy challenge to get the opening ceremony right, how can you present something that feels decent and people recognise as being truthful, but yet is a celebration?” I did hear he's teaming up with Underworld, whose rave music featured in Trainspotting. I think Boyle probably has some surprises up his sleeve. It will be green and pleasant, no doubt. If it's slick, the show could be special!

Good news: the Royal River Pageant

I'm not normally that patriotic or that in favour (or care) of the monarchy, but watching the thousand boats wave themselves up the Thames, I felt a bit red, white and blue. Starting this blog magazine on the Jubilee Weekend, there has to be some reference to the Queen. Not least in thanks for the extra day off work.

The pageant is a royal operation in itself, organising the boats in unpredictable weather, from small dragon boats rowed by cancer survivors, to working boats, military ships, house boats to the crown jewels of the flotilla, the Gloriana, rowed by ex-servicemen and Olympic medallists and the Royal Barge. The red and gold adorned Barge, hosting the Royal family, has been decked up inside like an Orient Express carriage. This has been in no way half-baked, it is eclectic and eccentric as maybe, Britain does best. I heard Australia have tried going bigger and better with a 5000-boat Pageant, but then they don't have the Thames to contend with. Besides, I think the Queen is worth more than 4000 boats.

The Queen looks regal and dignified in pearl white, covered in Swarovski crystals, whilst the Duchess of Cambridge wears a fitted red dress and a tartan scarf, a concession to the weather. Red is the favoured colour for most of the ladies. Royal blue is notably under-represented. The crowds watching on the banks wear fetching waterproof ponchos and hold Union Jack umbrellas. The rain is typically driving down in contrast to the hot sun of last weekend. As ever, Britons brave the downpours like we are accustomed to do as the cameras became more and more misty. Well it had to rain, didn't it, it wouldn't be British otherwise! 

As the pageant passes under the raised Tower Bridge, it reminds me that the Royal family are a constant in British culture and I quite like this. The National Anthem and fireworks from Tower Bridge are the finale. This River Pageant is a carnival, not Rio, but pompous British-stylee, which kicks off a patriotic summer for Britain. 

Our way of celebrating - a bottle of champagne from our warm and dry home, cheers!