<p>Listening to the <i>Today</i> programme this morning I heard an MP complaining, half jocularly, about the perils of Twitter. She offered this advice: never tweet when you've had a drink or you feel tired. You might feel embarrassed by the results.</p>
<p>Please, <i>please</i> do not take this to heart. Half of the pleasure of Twitter comes from the embarrassing stuff that slips out so easily. Direct messages that get directed into the public gaze. Simple slips of the tongue. Daft thoughts that were best left unspoken. What a boring place it would be without them.</p>
<p>My biggest Twitter faux pas always seem to stem from the tweets I send from my little HTC Magic phone. Whoever wrote the code for the spelling suggestions it auto-completes -- then demands you spot -- clearly was either possessed of a strange sense of humour or wasn't much familiar with the English language. Here are some of its quirks.</p>
<!--more--><ul>
  <li>Every time I try to type the word 'UK' it wants to write 'ukelele' instead.</li>

  <li>Whenever I want to write to my mate Justin on the Telegraph it's desperate to address him as Justinian.</li>
</ul>
<p>A few days ago I wanted to write a tweet about the death of Dick Francis. I did manage to spot the fact the phone wanted to change 'turning' to 'turnip' and that it really through 'Francis' to 'Franciscan'. But I failed to spot a simpler and more serious error. So my thoughtful tribute to this great and newly-departed writer referred to him as 'Sick Francis'. As several DMs swiftly pointed out.</p>
<p>The lesson being... read before you hit send. Which is decidedly difficult if you're in a hurry, on a train, and perhaps have had a drink and feel a little tired. But who'd be without it?</p>
<p>As for politicians and Twitter... let them use it at their peril. Tory blogger <a href="http://iaindale.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ian Dale</a> on <i>Today</i> told the story of one of her colleagues who let loose an unfortunate tweet and then announced to the world that someone, somewhere must have edited it after the thing was posted. As Dale pointed out... this is simply technically impossible. And if you use a sensible secure password no one can 'hack' or 'phish' your account either.</p>
<p>So that politician who said his message had been edited while out in the wild must have been, er... what's that word, now? One that gets used about politicians a fair old bit?</p>