黑洞社区

Despite this being 鈥満诙瓷缜� buys a pint鈥�, Derry insists on buying the drinks. What a gentleman. 鈥淭ake a picture of me buying the drinks!鈥� So just glory hunting, then? Derry鈥檚 posing reminds Ian of something and he asks: 鈥淲hat are you thinking about in your LinkedIn picture, Derry?鈥� - which sends both men into hysterics. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my 鈥檓an from Next鈥� pose - taken on my Mac webcam at home鈥�.

Thus begins a conversation on Derry鈥檚 favourite topic - Apple. 鈥淚鈥檓 an Apple fanatic!鈥� he says, very earnestly. Does he have an iPad? 鈥淒oes Derry have an iPad?!鈥� Michael laughs and all three men swap looks as Derry takes out his latest purchase (鈥淚 passed the Apple shop on my way over here鈥�) - a magic mouse for his wife, Helen: 鈥淪he bought me the iPad so I bought her a mouse.鈥� The perfect trade-off. 

锘縏hat鈥檚 my 鈥檓an from next鈥� pose - taken on my Mac webcam at home

We move - reluctantly - away from Apple, but stay in the world of gadgets and computers and talk about social media, something else Derry is a big fan of. 鈥淲hen Derry first brought [social media] to the partners, we viewed it sceptically,鈥� says Michael. 鈥淭o an extent some still do - those from a certain generation
(I suppose you could say 鈥檜s鈥�) but we have embraced it - it鈥檚 the way forward.鈥� Twitter and LinkedIn are Derry鈥檚 social mediums of choice: 鈥淲e push out good news as well as business news: someone鈥檚 got married, we鈥檙e working on a new project - makes us look more human.鈥� He then starts to expound on the virtues of search engine optimisation. 鈥淚s that right?鈥� muses Michael, looking impressed. Then he blurts out 鈥淔acebook鈥�. 鈥淵ou see,鈥� he says, 鈥淚 am into social media - I know the names. Actually I saw a film - The Social Network.鈥� Derry hasn鈥檛 seen it: 鈥淚 was too busy tweeting.鈥�

锘縈ichael says that as engineers they have to do up their own houses: 鈥橶e don鈥檛 trust anyone else鈥�

This leads us on to how Facebook makes all its money. 鈥淎dvertising,鈥� says Ian. 鈥淎lthough the only ads I see lately are DIY.鈥� Ian spent the two long bank holidays decorating his house - and he has the wounds to show for it. 鈥淚鈥檓 meant to be a professional engineer but I鈥檝e got cuts all over my hands!鈥� Michael says that as engineers they have to do up their own houses: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 trust anyone else.鈥� 鈥淯nless it鈥檚 a matter of the law 鈥� or of life and death,鈥� pipes up Ian. 鈥淟ike when we need a new boiler鈥︹��

Talk of the bank holiday inevitably leads to the royal wedding. And the obvious question: what did we all think about the dress? Met with a (very male) chorus of 鈥淰ery nice.鈥� 鈥淲hat did you think of the thing on Beatrice鈥檚 head?鈥� Derry asks - the dress, the couple, all but forgotten. We all consider the hat that has made waves throughout the fashion world - and the internet. 鈥淗orrendous,鈥� replies Ian. 鈥淣ot that I鈥檓 in any position to judge fashion.鈥� And then, a quote I am going to leave unattributed as all the men wore wedding rings and 黑洞社区 is not in the habit of causing marital disharmony: 鈥淏ut as for Pippa 鈥︹��