Lenin lived here

via twitpic.com

One of the joys of a new job is the chance to explore an area that was previously unknown.

Now based in King’s Cross, I’m slowly getting my bearings through a few lunchtime meanders.

Today, I happened upon one of London’s infamous blue plaques – in this instance commemorating a stay by the founder of the USSR, one Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin.

Percy Circus, where Lenin resided for a while, is an out-of-the-way ‘square’ just off the main ring road and easy to miss.

Blue plaques in general have been a part of London life since 1867 and honour everyone from the likes of former Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams to novelist Emile Zola.

The scheme is now run by English Heritage and has been extended outside London to other British cities.

Posted via web from Rob’s stream of web

Meet the Piranha

To my mind, tools and pocket gadgets are one of the few things that most men find particularly enticing.

We all remember our first proper Swiss Army knife (mine was engraved with my name) and even if we don't carry one around on our keyring any longer, there's something irresistible about a tool.

Step forward the latest kid off the block, the Piranha – a chunky, heat-resistant sheet of metal, fashioned into a tool that is packed with uses.

It has the ubiqiuitous bottle opener, as well as a wrench, screwdriver, spanner and much more.

The Piranha doesn't have the elegance of a Leatherman, or the heritage of the Swiss Army knife, but it does have raw strength.

It's chunky, robust and, well, manly. Guaranteed to make any male feel better about himself.

Currently, it's only available in the States for $49, but I can't believe it won't be hopping over the Atlantic very soon.

– Buy the Piranha at Pockettoolx.com

Posted via email from Rob’s stream of web

Noticing things around you

via noticin.gs

Online gaming has never really appealed to me – too many guns and peculiarly out-of-proportion, bikini-clad, computer-generated babes for my liking.

So the world of noticings is a genuinely, pleasant surprise.

The aim of the game is to take photos of interesting things while you’re out and about and then upload them to flickr, giving them relevant tags (including a geotag), so they can be entered into the game.

Players get awarded points for different things, such as spotting faces in everyday objects/architecture, noticing something every day for a week or being the first to spy something in a neighbourhood.

It’s a charming, simple and quirky idea that has quickly built a mini-community, and achieves the Holy Grail, which is encourage users to come back day after day.

Noticings is also the kind of site you want to stay fairly niche for fear of it losing its charm, but I’m sure a few hundred more users won’t hurt it just yet.

– Join the noticings game today

Posted via web from Rob’s stream of web