Fake Celebrities on Twitter - Ten of the Best

Prior to the Twitter detective actions of @Wossy, and the proliferation of real celebrities on Twitter as highlighted by Nick, I'd already blogged variously about
fake celebrities on Twitter, real celebrities on Twitter and indulged in a spot of mild baiting.

In addition to the large amount of spam profiles popping up on twitter, there are a number of celebrity squatters attempting to cash in on the phenomenon of cyber celeb-spotting.

Obviously this is cynical and not to be applauded. On the other hand, there are a number of profiles that utilise the persona of celebrities to hilarious effect. @RichardMadeley is one I've already talked about, but here are ten noteworthy, mostly because they're hilarious, fake celebrities in the Twittersphere.

1:@lindsaylohan

I can't repeat what Lindsay Lohan said she was going to be thankful for at Thanksgiving because my mum sometimes reads this blog. Suffice to say it was along the lines of what was said when Britney Spears' Twitter account was hacked, but also included a drug reference. Hilarious though.



2:@Alan_Partridge

Obviously there's a line to draw between fake celebrities and celebrity characters. Believe you me, I would love to read Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge's Tweets, but it hasn't happened yet, and I suspect he's not the type. This is not a particularly prolific account, but gets full marks for trying and for attempting to continue themes from the series.



3:@KMKYWAP - The Real Alan Partridge

Yes, there is a battle for the title of the real fake Alan Partridge. It is currently being won hands down by this chap. He has resorted to thinly veiled threats against the other fake Alan Partridge, and gets extra points for the KMKYWAP name.



4:@billclinton

My favourite Tweet from Barack Obama's Inauguration came from this guy:

Very SAD day for me.....I really thought I would be back in the White House today. Thanks for nothing Hillary!!!

5:@darthvader

I'm no Star Wars fan, but this guy is funny. I'm pretty sure he forgets he's supposed to be Darth Vader sometimes, but that actually makes it funnier.



6:@Borat

Like Darth Vader, it's a no brainer that someone would pull Borat out of the bag. Also like Darth Vader, his 'voice' is a little inconsistent, but still consistently amusing.



7:@JeremyKyle

Just look at the background images. He has been inactive for a while, but I salute this site for generally getting Kyle spot on, and for listing his location as 'Your Hearts and Minds'.



8:@davidbrent

Similar to the original Alan Partridge in referencing the series (The Office, for the uninitiated - where have you been?). Again inactive for a while. Surely just a matter of time before Ricky Gervais himself gets on Twitter.



9:@BillOddie

A Twittering twitcher. Very much along the lines of @RichardMadeley, and similarly amusing.



10:@andymcnab

Simply superb. There's something sinister about saying 'I'm being followed by Andy Mcnab.'. Not as sinister as his location: 'I can see you'. Sends shivers down my spine.

Four o'clock funny - Knowing Me, Knowing Yule

"Oi Alan, what do you do for an encore? Shag a robin?"

Bridging the gap into Christmassy funnies is Alan Partridge.

Four o'clock funny - Wa Wa Wa Wa Wa Unbelievable

The Kate Bush Medley. After the Abba Medley. From yesterday? The Alan Partridge one? Just watch it.

Four o'clock funny - Take a chance, chance, take a chance

Ah, the Alan Partridge Abba Medley. Enough said.

Four o'clock funny - You make pigs smoke

"You have big sheds but nobody's allowed in. And inside these big sheds are 20 foot high chickens. And these chickens are scared. They don't know why they're so big!"

Four o'clock funny - Sunday, Bloody Sunday

"Love your pop music. Enya. The other one, ripped up the picture of the Pope. Bald chap."



This features Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, the men behind Father Ted. Graham Linehan has an excellent blog called Why, That's Delightful. So this post has been entertaining and informative.

Four o'clock funny - I'm Batman

"That is the best Valentine's Day I've had in 8 years."

"What did you do 8 years ago?"

"I just had a better one. Went to Silverstone. Shook Jackie Stewart's hand. Superb. My marriage fell apart soon after that."

Four o'clock funny - Have you got a battery for an Ericsson?

"All those people who go around saying, 'life begins at 40'. They're notable by their absence. The nerve!"

Four o'clock funny - Can I just shock you? I like wine.

"Youth hosteling with Chris Eubank. Monkey Tennis?"

Four o'clock funny - He'd eaten all me fags man!

"Stop saying you threw your monkey in the sea!"

Four o'clock funny - Alan Partridge Week

"Zombies by their very nature are inconsistent."

There will be themed weeks on the Four o'clock funny from now on, starting with Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge. I never tire of watching these clips.

Web Without Sense

My new obsession of checking out as many of the links from sites I like as possible took me to a couple of excellent new discoveries this week.

The first, It's Nice That, is a design-based site to showcase creative talent. I was put onto it by the blog of the genius that is Graham Linehan (called, excellently 'Why, That's Delightful!'), one of the men behind Father Ted, the IT Crowd and countless other cameos including a part in a memorable scene in I'm Alan Partridge.



Good design, the ethos behind Will Hudson and Jez Burrows' It's Nice That, is something I appreciate but, and I'm the same with wine, know nowhere near as much about as I would like to. Unlike with wine, I suspect I may be able to use the internet as a means to expand my knowledge and appreciation of good design.

Anyway, in that spirit It's Nice That put me on to Web Without Sense, a site that I believe would fall into the 'simple but effective' bracket. And which will probably be used as the basis for some pretty geeky t-shirts.

Google reveals "Speech-to-text" technology

Google's purchase of You Tube was always going to present a world of possibilities. Put your hand up, though, if you thought that any of them would relate directly to coverage of the electoral process. I thought not.



The Official Google Blog reveals that the search giant's Google Research has a specific speech team. Using speech recognition technology, Google has managed to come up with a system that automatically transcribes videos on You Tube's Politicians Channels into text and indexes them. With this information it is then possible to search for specific themes within a video and, because they know exactly when the word in question is spoken, use shortcuts on the play bar to jump to the relevant points.

This tool is an extension of a theme written about a lot by Nick Burcher on his blog, concerning the role of various newer forms of media in the upcoming US Presidential Election and the recent London Mayoral Election.


What I find particularly interesting about this is the potential it has. I have spent a lot of time in the past (definitely not today at work) looking for specific comedy sketches and phrases. They're all there on You Tube, but having to trawl through a three minute Alan Partridge clip to find the killer line isn't as immediate as it could be. In the absence of a You Tube editing facility to chop and paste your own videos from those existing on the site (please someone tell me if this exists), being able to effectively bookmark a video for the money shot (if you'll pardon the expression) would revolutionise the sharing of videos.