http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/16/universal-sony-music-singles-release
Publication date: 16 January
The two biggest record labels in the UK, Universial and Sony Music, are going to play their part in stopping the music piracy by making new singles available for sale on the day they first hit the airwaves. The record labels hope to encourage the impatient youth to buy songs they can listen to immediately instead of copying from radio broadcasts online. David Joseph, the chief executive of Universal Music, said that 'Wait is not a word in the vocabulary of the current generation. It's out of date to think that you can build up demand for a song by playing it for several weeks on radio in advance' and that 'under the old system the searches for songs on Google or iTunes were peaking two weeks before they actually became available to buy, meaning that the public was bored of – or had already pirated – new singles. Piracy remain a big problem for the music industry.
Reaction
I don't think this is going to work. The music industry and film industry had to react on piracy ten years ago. Instead of seeking a solution with downloading programs, they were fighting against it. Why should you buy an album if you can download it for free? And that has nothing to do with 'an impatient generation' but with new technologies.
maandag 17 januari 2011
Child sex trafficking in UK on the rise with even younger victims targeted
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jan/17/child-trafficking-uk-rise
Publication date: 17 January
The trafficking of British children around UK cities for sexual exploitation is on the increase with some children as young as ten, according to a report by Barnardo's, the UK's biggest children's charity. The children are being groomed by older abusers. The average age the victim dropped from 15 till 13 years. The New chief executive of Barnardo's Anne Marie Carrie says that 'everwhere they have looked for exploitation, they have found it, and that it is only the top of the iceberg'.
The main finding of the report are:
• Trafficking becoming more common and sexual exploitation more organised.
• Grooming methods becoming more sophisticated as abusers use a range of technology – mobile phones, including texts and picture messages, Bluetooth technology, and the internet – to control and abuse children.
Reaction
It makes me really sick to read about sexual exploitation of children. I think the abusers who get cought have to get really high prison sentences for this. And the government should do more to prevent this.
Publication date: 17 January
The trafficking of British children around UK cities for sexual exploitation is on the increase with some children as young as ten, according to a report by Barnardo's, the UK's biggest children's charity. The children are being groomed by older abusers. The average age the victim dropped from 15 till 13 years. The New chief executive of Barnardo's Anne Marie Carrie says that 'everwhere they have looked for exploitation, they have found it, and that it is only the top of the iceberg'.
The main finding of the report are:
• Trafficking becoming more common and sexual exploitation more organised.
• Grooming methods becoming more sophisticated as abusers use a range of technology – mobile phones, including texts and picture messages, Bluetooth technology, and the internet – to control and abuse children.
Reaction
It makes me really sick to read about sexual exploitation of children. I think the abusers who get cought have to get really high prison sentences for this. And the government should do more to prevent this.
vrijdag 7 januari 2011
EastEnders: BBC chief defends cot death storyline
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/07/eastenders-cot-death-plot
Publication date: Friday 7 January
More than 6000 complaints have been made about a controversial plot of Eastenders. The baby of character Ronnie died and therefor she kidnapped the baby of Kat and Alfie. Benneth, the BBC Vision director, said that the show was 'absolutely not suggesting that Ronnie's behaviour was typical of a mother who has suffered such a terrible and tragic loss'. Benneth said that the issue was 'sensitively handled'.
Reaction
I think it is really funny that people complain about a plot in a soap. If you do not like it, why continu to watch a show? I really do not understand why you should complain about a soap. It is a soap and soaps have always poor storylines. I am wondering if something like this would happen in the Netherlands. I cannot imagine that, for example, NRC Handelsblad would report that people are complaining about the storyline of Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden.
Publication date: Friday 7 January
More than 6000 complaints have been made about a controversial plot of Eastenders. The baby of character Ronnie died and therefor she kidnapped the baby of Kat and Alfie. Benneth, the BBC Vision director, said that the show was 'absolutely not suggesting that Ronnie's behaviour was typical of a mother who has suffered such a terrible and tragic loss'. Benneth said that the issue was 'sensitively handled'.
Reaction
I think it is really funny that people complain about a plot in a soap. If you do not like it, why continu to watch a show? I really do not understand why you should complain about a soap. It is a soap and soaps have always poor storylines. I am wondering if something like this would happen in the Netherlands. I cannot imagine that, for example, NRC Handelsblad would report that people are complaining about the storyline of Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden.
dinsdag 28 december 2010
Nicotine patches to be offered to England smokers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12084956
Publication date: 28 December 2010
Smokers who wants to quit in the new year are lucky; the government is offerring free nicotine patches. The patches are part of the NHS Stop Smoking Quit Kit and are available at chemists from the first of January. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says 'that he is hoping more than 400.000 people will try to give up smoking using the kit which is supplied by the Department of Health'. Smoking is still the greatest avoidable cause of early death in the UK; up to 80.000 lives a year are lost.
Reaction:
I do not think free nicotine patches are the solution for quitting smoking. Most of the people who decide to quit smoking in the new year are starting smoking again soon. If you really want to quit smoking you can do it without patches. The patches only work for the physical addiction, while the mental part of the addiction is the hardest part to overcome.
Publication date: 28 December 2010
Smokers who wants to quit in the new year are lucky; the government is offerring free nicotine patches. The patches are part of the NHS Stop Smoking Quit Kit and are available at chemists from the first of January. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says 'that he is hoping more than 400.000 people will try to give up smoking using the kit which is supplied by the Department of Health'. Smoking is still the greatest avoidable cause of early death in the UK; up to 80.000 lives a year are lost.
Reaction:
I do not think free nicotine patches are the solution for quitting smoking. Most of the people who decide to quit smoking in the new year are starting smoking again soon. If you really want to quit smoking you can do it without patches. The patches only work for the physical addiction, while the mental part of the addiction is the hardest part to overcome.
dinsdag 21 december 2010
So this is Christmas
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/so-this-is-christmas-2165487.html
Publication date: 21 December 2010
More than half a million Christmas travellers remained stranded in the United Kingkom. 100.000 extra passengers who had been booked a flight from or to Heathrow were disappointed when they find out their flights were cancelled. The usually escape route for travellers to Europe, the Canal Tunnel, came to a standstill as well. The terminals of Heathrow look grim; thousands of people have to sleep on the floor. The former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said that 'BAA made the UK like a Third World country' and that 'they did not made adequate preparations for winter snow and ice'.
Reaction
I am wondering if this was not happened if BAA did some adequate preparations. The weather condition are really extreme this year. It was a long time ago the temperatures were so low in the United Kingdom. And I do not know if you can prepare for so much snow in such a short period. I think it is going to take a long time before the air traffic is on schedule again. I hope the travellers are back home before new year's eve.
Publication date: 21 December 2010
More than half a million Christmas travellers remained stranded in the United Kingkom. 100.000 extra passengers who had been booked a flight from or to Heathrow were disappointed when they find out their flights were cancelled. The usually escape route for travellers to Europe, the Canal Tunnel, came to a standstill as well. The terminals of Heathrow look grim; thousands of people have to sleep on the floor. The former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said that 'BAA made the UK like a Third World country' and that 'they did not made adequate preparations for winter snow and ice'.
Reaction
I am wondering if this was not happened if BAA did some adequate preparations. The weather condition are really extreme this year. It was a long time ago the temperatures were so low in the United Kingdom. And I do not know if you can prepare for so much snow in such a short period. I think it is going to take a long time before the air traffic is on schedule again. I hope the travellers are back home before new year's eve.
One in 11 boys leaves primary school 'unable to read'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12000886
Publication date: 17 December 2010
One in eleven boys starts secondary school with the reading skills of a an average seven-year-old. The government is now bringing in a reading check for six-year-olds to identify these problems in an early stage. The problem is worse for boys according to the figures. Dylan William, professor of education at the Institute of Education, say it 'is very hard for children who struggling with reading to catch up' and that it 'never had been more important to be able to read to a decent standard because most of the information comes from internet'. A solution can be 'reading recovery' methods, which includes intensive tuition and much smaller class sizes. But these methods are expensive.
Reaction
I am not surprised about these figures. I think it is not much different in the Netherlands. But I am surprised about the fact that the problem is worse for boys. I am wondering why that can be. The article does not explain why boys have more problems with reading than girls. That is a pity because I would like to know why.
Publication date: 17 December 2010
One in eleven boys starts secondary school with the reading skills of a an average seven-year-old. The government is now bringing in a reading check for six-year-olds to identify these problems in an early stage. The problem is worse for boys according to the figures. Dylan William, professor of education at the Institute of Education, say it 'is very hard for children who struggling with reading to catch up' and that it 'never had been more important to be able to read to a decent standard because most of the information comes from internet'. A solution can be 'reading recovery' methods, which includes intensive tuition and much smaller class sizes. But these methods are expensive.
Reaction
I am not surprised about these figures. I think it is not much different in the Netherlands. But I am surprised about the fact that the problem is worse for boys. I am wondering why that can be. The article does not explain why boys have more problems with reading than girls. That is a pity because I would like to know why.
zondag 19 december 2010
Get vaccinated against flu virus this winter, warns HPA
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12011712
Publication date: 16 December 2010
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that seventeen people have died from flu-illness this winter, fourteen of them were infected with swine flu virus. The rate of vaccinations of among vulnerable young people is low, warns HPA. Professor John Watson from HPa says that 'flu a extremely serious illness is for pregnant women, the elderly and those with heart problems, diabetes or a weak immune system'. For these people a vaccination is the best protection. Professor Dame Sally Davles, interim chief medical officer for England, is also worried about the rate of vaccinations among young people. She says that 'they are not getting everyone at risk vaccinated'.
Reaction
I think it is good to encourage people at risk to get a vaccination for the flu virus. But what happened last year with the hysteria around the swine flu virus was insane. The Dutch government encouraged healthy people to get a vaccination, and they bought way to much vaccinations. I think in some cases the pharmaceutical industry has to much influence.
Publication date: 16 December 2010
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed that seventeen people have died from flu-illness this winter, fourteen of them were infected with swine flu virus. The rate of vaccinations of among vulnerable young people is low, warns HPA. Professor John Watson from HPa says that 'flu a extremely serious illness is for pregnant women, the elderly and those with heart problems, diabetes or a weak immune system'. For these people a vaccination is the best protection. Professor Dame Sally Davles, interim chief medical officer for England, is also worried about the rate of vaccinations among young people. She says that 'they are not getting everyone at risk vaccinated'.
Reaction
I think it is good to encourage people at risk to get a vaccination for the flu virus. But what happened last year with the hysteria around the swine flu virus was insane. The Dutch government encouraged healthy people to get a vaccination, and they bought way to much vaccinations. I think in some cases the pharmaceutical industry has to much influence.
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