My car has been stolen, reg PO59 WHR Black VW Tiguan. Plates have probably been changed. Just in case théy haven't keep a look out RT

March 17, 2012 11:05 pm via UberSocial for BlackBerryReplyRetweetFavorite

@ClaireLYoung

Claire Young

The Director of School Speakers and Girls Out Loud reported the theft on the social networking site on Saturday night.

She stated that thieves working on what she believed was a ‘steal to order’ basis had broken into her Wakefield home the night before and stolen the keys to her car, containing her treasured riding equipment, which was parked outside.

Young appeared in the fourth series of the Apprentice, broadcast in 2008, where she lost out to former sales recruitment officer Lee McQueen in the final.

Her physical appearance was likened to a ‘size 16 Kimberley Walsh’ but a year later had lost just under 3 stone and was featured on the front cover of Fabulous magazine showing off her new size 10-12 figure.

Co-ordinated starts from three locations near to the Ewood Park ground converged at the stadium shortly before kick off for a brief rally.

The march and subsequent protest was peaceful and an initial light police presence soon disappeared.

Rovers have struggled near the foot of the Premier League table all season and supporters have been alarmed at how the club has regressed since the sacking of former manager Sam Allardyce,  which followed the sale of the club to the Venkys.

The Indian owners have been under relentless pressure to either fund success or sell, and the company itself was the subject of a highly critical article in widely read Indian paper, The Economic Times.

A group calling itself the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust (BRSIT) was instrumental in the protest, using it as a way to publicise their intention to raise enough funds from supporters to enable them to buy the club from the Indian owners.

Flyers like the one on the right were distributed to fans arriving for the home game against Aston Villa, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Earlier this year they appeared bruised and battered as part of an anti-bullying campaign by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), surely a campaign close to their hearts as they themselves have been victims of bullying from an early age. In fact, at the age of twelve, the twins were forced out of one of Ireland’s most prestigious schools by bullies who targeted them because of their clean-cut image and love of cheesy pop music. Their treatment brings to mind another clean living pop star who has managed to live his entire life scandal free while also being ridiculed, derided, having his sexuality questioned and mocked throughout his life. He is still around while his detractors have long since vanished from the public consciousness. While musically, Sir Cliff Richard and Jedward are poles apart, behind the music is there much difference to how they are treated?

Now, Jedward are very much a Marmite act – you either love them or hate them. There seems to be no middle ground. Some find them irritating, others fascinating and entertaining. Personally, I was surprised they got as far as they did on the X-Factor and am even more shocked they are still making a living in the entertainment industry, but I have to admire their drive, enthusiasm and commitment. They are certainly not quitters.

However, whatever your own personal opinions, what we have here are two teenagers who don’t drink, smoke or take drugs, who live a healthy lifestyle, make the most of limited musical ability and most of all enjoy life. Is this really something to deride and ridicule?

On the X-Factor, Simon Cowell described them as ‘not very good and incredibly annoying’ which many would agree with, but his comments became much darker later on when he claimed they were “vile little creatures who would step on their mother’s head to have a hit” which even the most seasoned of Jedward haters would agree is harsh. Negative publicity surrounded them online during their time on the show, leading their mentor and now manager Louis Walsh to question “how people can hate two nice young kids from Ireland”. Their fans would disagree and those who I have spoken to describe them as thoroughly decent and having lots of time for their fans.

Over the Christmas period there have been numerous programmes featuring the twins and I am going to highlight how they are treated in two of them.

In ‘Celebrity Juice’, they have become regulars in a segment called ‘Keith vs Jedward’ in which the teams must predict who will successfully complete a task between host Keith Lemon (comedian Leigh Francis) and Jedward. In this, they are given ridiculous tasks which they complete with good humour and enthusiasm. Their strengths are played to and the audience very much laugh with them rather than at them. The whole show is a madcap event and this compliments their personalities and they act as a good foil to Lemon.

However, in the Christmas edition of ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, they were continually shot down by host Jimmy Carr using phrases such as ‘Adults talking’ and claiming that his Christmas wish was that the twins would be struck down with a thunder bolt. Embarrassingly, as pointed out to him by team captain, John Richardson, you can’t be struck down by a thunder bolt, it would have to be a lightning bolt.

Also on the show, former teacher Greg Davies seemed to take a comment about him being much older than the twins and also having more than one chin in good humour but then repeatedly acted towards them in a very disrespectful and aggressive way, at one point claiming he had fainted while they were talking. As a former teacher, he should have known better and understood the effect bullying can have on people. While the twins seem to let all this go over their heads, no-one knows if it is having a negative effect or whether their past experiences have left them able to deal with any abuse aimed towards them.

Let’s not kid ourselves, what we have seen on television regarding Jedward is at the very least borderline bullying. Here are two teenagers who many youngsters love watching and listening to. If they are going to be booked on shows to be bullied by the hosts and other guests, then production companies need to consider whether they are comfortable with condoning bullying on their shows and the example it sets to any younger viewers who may be watching. Personally, while I usually find Jimmy Carr and ‘Cats’ hilarious, this edition left me feeling very uncomfortable.

At 42, I am far away from the demographic audience Jedward are trying to attract, but surely although they can be annoying and irritating, their vice free lifestyle, clean language and ability to laugh at themselves should be something to celebrate rather than berate. As role models for today’s youth, I can think of much worse examples and considering today’s climate of crime, recession, loss of civil liberties and dishonest public officials, Planet Jedward is looking like a more appealing place to live every passing day.

Avatar director James Cameron believed that 3-D was a way to kill off piracy, but his movie which was shot in 3-D and grossed $2,782,275,172 worldwide, has been revealed as the film most downloaded by BitTorrent users.

Piracy seems to have had little effect on box office takings as all the movies in the pirate top ten, with the exception Kick-Ass, took hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

However, the movie industry claims that while piracy may have little effect on box office takings, it does directly impact on television sales and film rentals.

Today RIM Founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, apologised to customers for the disruption to the service via the company’s YouTube channel.

A the time of writing, out of the 88 replies, the majority were from BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) users.

The percentage of BIS v BES users who responded to the survey

Blackberry users are split into two groups; BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) and BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). BES users are usually corporate customers who use their devices for work while BIS is what the general public or private Blackberry owners are more likely to have.

When these groups were asked about whether they would change devices, there were slightly more BES users who would stick with their Blackberry devices, but this could be due to infrastructures already in place at their companies.

However, 58.2% of BIS users said they were considering changing.

Looking at a breakdown of the data per continent, European users appear to be the most likely to change mobile phone platforms, but this could be due to them suffering a longer period of downtime than other parts of the world. This could also reflect brand loyalty with RIM being a North American based company.

However, those who are considering moving to another device are mainly divided between the iPhone and Android platforms.



This data looks a little healthier for RIM when we include those who plan on sticking with their Blackberry devices while there is a distinct lack of interest in the new Windows Mobile platform.



Below is the same data but split between continents. Interestingly, the proportion of those considering sticking with their Blackberry devices and switching to iPhones or Android handsets in Europe and North America is roughly the same.



So while there is no doubt that many Blackberry users are dissatisfied with the service they have received from RIM this week, there is still a high degree of loyalty from their customers. It is also likely that for many, the negative feelings they have towards the company will dissipate as the service returns to normal operation.

To view/download the raw data, click here.

Twitter Trendsmap screenshot taken at 16:28 on 12/10/2011. Click image for up to date map.

Please complete the form below. The results will be made public when a sufficient amount of responses have been made.

You can see the results from the survey here.

I’m happy to say that the positive refrain has far outweighed the negative … we believe (it) is a truly delightful leap forward for Gowalla - blog.gowalla.com

When check-in social networking first came to prominence, the two main players were Foursquare and Gowalla. Foursquare went down the route of rewarding checkins with the ability to become a virtual mayor if you checked in to a location more frequently than others within a specific time period, but the interface was rather bland. Gowalla instead developed a virtual geocaching element using items which users could collect, drop and exchange along with a beautiful interface and location specific badges showing graphical representations of notable landmarks, such as with Tower Bridge on the right.

In the latest incarnation of Gowalla, gone are the popular items (which the company claims was a feature only used by around 2% of it’s users) and the badges rewarding users for completing objectives. Also removed is the ability to view all the colourful badges from featured locations you have visited in one place.

So what have they done? I hear you ask. Well, they have replaced all that with ‘Stories’, such as this:

An example of a Gowalla 'story'

The online reaction to the change must be worrying to Gowalla, no matter how they try to spin it. At the time or writing, the most recent comment on Gowalla’s Facebook Wall is Calton Bolick‘s “Gowalla: worst product relaunch EVER. A location-based guide that doesn’t tell you what’s nearby and provides bad choices for things far away. A complete joke. ” Calton is not alone, with Lennart Augustsson commenting that “The new app is unbelievably crappy” and Alyson Stringer Steakley lamenting her break up with Gowalla by posting “I adored Gowalla like I do Apple products and professed it regularly. No more though—latest update was like breaking up via text message—absolutely criminal. We’ll always have Paris…adios“.

Displeasure has even spilled over to app store ratings for the Android and iOS platforms:

An example of reviews from the Android App Store

All the checkins I have made from remote places… All the shop keepers and businesses I have tried to convert.. all talks i have given internationally ignoring foursquare and expounding the virtues of Gowalla. For what?I told everyone that with the help of the ipad app Gowalla was the bridge between our ‘real’ and online lives. Well someone has blown that bridge up and told me to take the ferry because it will be a more interesting ‘story’.RIP Gowalla. It was great while it lasted. - Documentally via blog.gowalla.com

Reading between the lines, the consensus seems to be that all the fun elements of using the service have been removed, meaning there is little or no incentive to carry on using it.

While the move away from simply checkins to a ‘travel guide’ is a bold move, the company seem to have forgotten that when people are travelling abroad, they are unlikely to check in or create ‘stories’ due to the high cost of mobile data when roaming.

It isn’t just the users who are at odds with the official version of customer satisfaction. Web based information company Alexa show that Gowalla‘s Traffic Rank and Daily Reach (the estimated percentage of global internet users who visit the site) indicate a marked decline in popularity. Although you cannot use the Alexa data as 100% accurate, it does indicate a trend away from Gowalla.

So what does the future hold for Gowalla? At the moment it looks bleak with some people claiming the company has committed ‘start up suicide’.

However, there is still time for them to reverse the trend. Some have said they should make the old version of Gowalla available again and run the new version alongside it, but the company have stated that they do not wish to run multiple apps.

There is a way to combine the two though.

1. Make items and pins available again along with an easy way to view the featured places you have visited.
2. Allow people to simply check in if they wish to.
3. For those who wish to create a ‘story’, allow users to connect checkins together under a specific title, such as ‘Trip to New York’ which would combine the storytelling element without the need for a separate app.

Only time will tell what is in store for Gowalla but it is with great sadness that I deleted a former favourite app from my phone after accepting that as it is, I will never use it again.

What do you think about the new Gowalla? Is it a brave and unique way to create a unique brand identity or do you long for the days of collecting items, pins and simple check-ins? Why not tell us by leaving a comment below.

On Wednesday 5th October, 52 volunteers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) arrived at Hutton Hall as part of their annual One Firm One Day initiative. Their theme for this year was ‘Employability’ which aimed to assist local community groups, charities and social enterprises that either work with the unemployed or focus on employability skills. Business in the Community worked with PwC to identify appropriate local projects, which led to Hutton Hall along with 4 other Birmingham based projects being chosen.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham and Regional Chairman of PwC Mark Smith during their visit to Hutton Hall

As a firm we have a strategic vision which involves doing the right thing for our people, our clients and the communities in which we operate, so it’s a fundamental part of what we are as a firm.

The teams from PwC, along with local volunteers from the community, organised themselves into three groups tackling internal painting, gardening and the outside environment. Working tirelessly for around six hours, breaking only for a short lunch, the teams worked relentlessly to transform Hutton Hall’s dilapidated areas.

The number of people working in and around the building impressed Inclusion Connect’s Tanvir Ahmed who said that “this (was) the first time (he’d) seen 50 plus people in the place at one time” and his verdict on the work was that it looked “amazing”.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Anita Ward, took time out of her busy schedule to make her third visit to Hutton Hall to see how the work was progressing. One her first visit she had been “quite alarmed” at the state of the property but was now impressed at how the centre was “flourishing” and described it as “a good news story for the community” who she hoped would make use of this “valuable resource”. Speaking of the volunteer work she said “The way in which Commpact have brought together the community as volunteers to look after the building, to paint it, make it more friendly for users is very important.”

PwC volunteers hard at work

From the outside it’s bright, it’s vibrant, you get a real feel now that there’s things happening here and people are happy to just walk past and come in and see what’s going on.

The volunteers from PwC seemed to enjoyed their day out of the office by commenting that it was “brilliant”, “really good fun” and one employee registering the impact their collective efforts had on the site by stating that “it seems to have made quite a lot of difference in such a short space of time”.

While a lot of progress has been made, there is still work to be done to complete the renovation with the kitchen area next on the agenda. No-one can argue that Hutton Hall’s transformation from dilapidated building to vibrant community centre is astounding and demonstrates how successful local involvement, engagement and empowerment can be.

To see more photographs taken during the day, please visit our Facebook Gallery.

This article was originally posted on the Commpact:Europe website.

After sacking Billy Davies, who had led the club to two successive play off failures, pre-season optimism was high that McClaren would be the man to take Forest back to the top division. But after just 2 wins, a draw and 6 league defeats, Forest are looking like a team more likely to be playing next season in League One rather than the Premiership.

Radio 5 live’s Pat Murphy has claimed that McClaren was unhappy about being unable to sign two Premier League players on loan due to concerns the Chairman had regarding their wages, and believed he was going to resign regardless of the result on Saturday, but hoped to “go out on a high note”.

Despite their disastrous start to the season, McClaren, who had been in charge since June, has been praised by some supporters for not taking or seeking any form of compensation following his resignation. Some fans have even credited him with forcing the resignation of the chairman through this action.

Commenting on the ForestFans.net forum, Big Paul posted

It has to be said, that the man has done us a massive favour. Stood up against Doughty, pushed him out, then fell on his sword.

So who could replace McClaren in the Forest hot seat? Last month the People were claiming that Derby manager Nigel Clough could follow in his late father’s footsteps while some fans have speculated that Preston manager Phil Brown, who led Hull from relegation form to promotion, could be the man to replace the former England manager. There have even been calls for former manager Billy Davies to be reinstated, but speculation that former player Roy Keane could be returning to take charge have been met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm online.

After almost 10 years in charge, Chairman Nigel Doughty also stepping at the end of the season has led to the club announcing they will be looking for a successor immediately. However, they have also stated that Doughty will continue to support the club financially even after stepping down.

This post was originally published on The Sport Review website.

Nottingham boss Steve McLaren will come under further pressure following his team’s 1-3 home defeat to improving Birmingham City. The result leaves Forest one place above fellow strugglers Coventry who occupy the third relegation place and were also beaten yesterday by two goals at Barnsley.

Blackpool went goal crazy in the sun at the seaside, beating Bristol City by five goals to nil with the final two coming during injury time at the end of the match. Leicester also had an emphatic four goal win over Derby which moves them to one place behind the Seasiders, with both teams just outside the play off places.

Just above them, Hull beat Cardiff 2-1, Brighton lost 3-1 away at Ipswich, West Ham drew 2-2 away to Crystal Palace while Middlesbrough held on to second place with a goalless draw at Reading.

Southampton held on to the top spot by beating Watford 4-0, in a game which saw the Saints awarded two penalties, one in each half, both converted by Lambert. Elsewhere, Peterborugh lost 1-2 at home to Doncaster, Burnley’s revival continued with a 1-0 win away to Millwall while a Danny Pugh goal gave Leeds all three points against Portsmouth.

The high scoring games didn’t end in the Championship with Huddersfield continuing their rise up the table with a 4-0 win away to Brentford and MK Dons recapturing second spot with a 3-0 home win against Notts County.

Preston’s best winning run since 1959 which had seen them win their last seven league games came to an abrupt end at Leyton Orient where they threw away an early lead and missed a penalty to lose 2-1 and drop to third place. Charlton held onto top spot with a 2-0 win away to fellow promotion hopefuls Sheffield United.

Exeter won three valuable points to keep above Orient by beating Oldham 2-0, Sheffield Wednesday consolidated their play off position with a 1-0 win away to Hartlepool while Colchester also enjoyed a 1-0 win away to Chesterfield. Elsewhere, Rochdale came from behind to beat Wycombe 2-1, Stevenage lost by the same score at home to Scunthorpe, while Bury enjoyed a 3-1 away win at Yeovil. Walsall and Carlisle drew 1-1 while Tranmere and Bournemouth both failed to break the deadlock in a goalless score draw.

In League Two, Accrington Stanley turned around a 1-2 deficit at half time to beat Aldershot 3-1 at the Crown Ground while AFC Wimbledon secured fourth place, beating Gillingham 3-1. Southend held onto top spot with a 3-0 Friday night victory over Shrewsbury while Macclesfield beat Swindon 2-0 on the same evening. Crawley Town kept the pressure on Southend, beating Plymouth 2-0 to remain in second place.

Morecambe are still third, despite only managing a 1-1 draw away at Torquay, two goals in the first half were enough for Port Vale to beat Rotherham, while Oxford United beat Hereford 0-1. Dagenham and Redbridge scored an injury time winner at home to Crewe and Burton Albion and Bradford drew with two goals apiece.

Elsewhere, Cheltenham ensured it was a miserable afternoon in Bristol by beating Rovers 1-3 as Barnet lost at home to Northampton by two goals to one.