About Me

Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
HR Apprentice. Ex Media Studies student at Swansea University. This blog is a collection of links, articles, academic reference and random thoughts.

Thursday 26 February 2009

Eye of God pictured in space

European astronomers have taken a stunning photo of a Big Brother-style cosmic eye, nicknamed the Eye of God, staring down from space.photo was taken with a giant telescope at the European Southern Observatory, high on a mountaintop at La Silla in Chile. It is so detailed that a close-up reveals distant galaxies within the central eyeball. read more Telegraph



Monday 23 February 2009

Further to an earlier article in which I commented on the relaxed attitude of the British public in the wake of the economic crisis, The Guardian report

Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned
The article reveals that it is
middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations who may now seek to vent their anger through protests this year.
At last the country is waking up to the reality of the situation and making their voice heard. The government may choose not to listen but the message needs to get through. United we stand, divided we fall

Six months in Afghanistan footage | World news | guardian.co.uk

Six months in Afghanistan footage | World news | guardian.co.uk

A series of films by John D McHugh about what life is really like for the US military in Afghanistan



Tuesday 17 February 2009

Charlie Brooker: Exciting new crisp flavours? More like a dirty protest in mass-produced packets

Amusing article by Charlie Brooker about the launch of Walkers flavours competition finalists on The Guardian website :

"Exciting new crisp flavours? More like a dirty protest in mass-produced packets. Walkers are keen to point out that no squirrels were harmed in the making of their crisps"

The competition is split into three stages

Stage one: the public were invited to suggest exotic new flavours.
Stage two: Six flavours were chosen for the public to vote for their favourite.
Stage three: The top flavour becomes a permanent member of the Walkers line-up.

The finalists are

Builders Breakfast
Crispy Duck and Hoison
Cajun Squirrel
Chilli and Chocolate
Fish and Chips
Onion Bhaji

I still remember the hedgehof flavour and traffic warden flavour which were introduced in the 1980's, they never caught on either

Monday 9 February 2009

The rise of the twittering classes

The rise of the twittering classes is something that has received a wide amount of publicity in the British press this week. Stephen Fry used Twitter to tell his followers (OVER 100000 of them) that he was stuck in a lift at Centrepoint in London. Reports appeared the next day in most of the daily newspapers more notably The Guardian The Telegraph and The Independent

Johnathan Ross delighted his Twitter followers at the BAFTA awards by working in the word salad as part of his performance. The Guardian's live Baftas blog,suggests the crossover between 'Bafta nominee/buddy/ligger' and 'Twitterer' is not particularly big, and possibly non-existent. Twitter fans at home, meanwhile, were simultaneously jumping up and down on the sofa yelling 'He said salad! He said salad!' to the bemusement of all around them"

Friday 6 February 2009

Facebook at five: The toughest challenge is yet to come - Telegraph

How long before the popularity of Facebook fades? An article in the Telegraph, comments on the future of Facebook: Facebook at five: The toughest challenge is yet to come - Telegraph: "For many internet users, especially youngsters, having a Facebook account is as important as having a mobile phone. Social events are organised through Facebook's pages, and it is used by millions to share photos and videos.
However, the next five years look a lot tougher for Facebook. The honeymoon period is well and truly over, and there is anecdotal evidence, at least, that 'Facebook fatigue' is setting in with some users. The greatest difficulty the website faces is 'user stickiness' – remaining sufficiently dynamic, interesting and relevant to retain its members"

Are government ministers allowed to poke, tweet and use social media? | Technology | The Guardian

An article in The Guardian: asks : Are government ministers allowed to poke, tweet and use social media? "This week, the government's Power of Information taskforce set out a list of 25 urgent actions for the public sector machine - from Downing Street to local councils and NHS organisations - to take to embrace social networking, blogging and other such phenomena."

Thursday 5 February 2009

MediaShift . Journalists Still a-Twitter About Social Media | PBS

Excellent post on journalists fascination with social media site Twitter


MediaShift . Journalists Still a-Twitter About Social Media | PBS: "Journalists are obsessed with Twitter. Obsessed. They use it, talk about it, analyze it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, love it, hate it, capitalize on it, become experts on it, monetize it, argue about it, and become micro-famous on it. They are mesmerized with what it is and they are as giddy as Tom Cruise on Oprah just thinking about what it could be."

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Digital Britain - Interim Report

A comprehensive analysis report of our digital economy titled Digital Britain , assesses the UK’s readiness fully to exploit the dramatic shift to digital technology as the basis of huge parts of our economy and private lives, drawing on expertise from across Government, regulators and industry.

The Interim Report has just been released

Sunday 1 February 2009

The State of Childhood

According to "The Good Childhood Inquiry,

The state of childhood is one of the recurring topics of our times. Today’s children and young people live in an era of rapid change, which poses particular challenges for their growth and development. In this climate, there is growing concern about the health and well-being of our children. Politicians, academia and the media alike ponder how best to bring up the nation’s children."
The Good Childhood Inquiry, the UK’s first independent national inquiry into the nature of chilhood will release findings this week.

It will consider the following key questions:
• What are the conditions for a good childhood?
• What obstacles exist to those conditions?
• What changes could be made that would be likely
to improve childhood?

Initial findings suggest
Our children and young people suffer from higher incidences of mental and physical ill-health than their European contemporaries. As a society we share a damaging ambivalence towards children: preoccupied with protecting our own children from harm, we often fail to reach out to those who need our attention most. And all the while our young people are continually subjected to pressure to achieve, behave and even consume like adults at an ever earlier age.

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