Credit Crisis Diary: 06/05/2009

A new hotline to God

Good news for Cistercian monks from internet companies Telecomms Facilities and ntl:Telewest – at least those who are based in Caldey Abbey on Caldey Island.

Until now, the remote West Wales community has been beyond the reach of broadband internet services, but the two companies have now managed to link it up. Father Daniel, the Abbot in charge, is ever so grateful. "Patience is one of the characteristics of monastic life," he says, "but even the patience of the brothers was being tested by our slow dial-up internet service."

An offer you really can afford to ignore

Ping, an email arrives extolling the virtues of a surefire investment winner. "In delicate economic times, there's no more solid investment than land," it explains. Sounds good so far. Ah, here's the catch. "Especially when that land is some of the most fertile in Iceland," our friends at Nordic eMarketing add. Pretty sure we've had enough Icelandic investment opportunities for a while.

Apple set to take a bite out of Twitter

Heard the latest Twitter gossip? The micro-blogging service, founded by Jack Dorsey, right, a couple of years ago, has been linked to all sorts of suitors, with Google and Facebook generally assumed to be front-runners in the race to buy it up. Now, however, internet-based rumour-monger Gawker says the boys at Apple are closing in. Steve Jobs could even announce a $700m deal at the next Max Expo in June.

Happy birthday BP, not

The spat between BP and Greenpeace continues. Having had activists thrown out of BP's headquarters in December for trying to present the company with an ironic award for environmentalism, Greenpeace now plans to commemorate the oil company's 100th birthday with an advertising campaign. "Is BP going senile?" the ads will ask, before poking fun at its attempts to get oil from tar sands in Canada.

Ryanair's legal eagles swoop in

No one can say the budget airline Ryanair doesn't have a heart. It may be suing a French trade union for daring to take industrial action at Carcassonne Airport last year – the strike was illegal under French law, the airline claims – but it has at least pledged to give any damages it wins to a local cancer charity.