My mouse ate my homework

Kids say the funniest things, apparently.
Pupils today have come up with a list of decidedly 21st century excuses for not delivering their homework on time.
Excuses now involve technology, although it seems many still lack any kind of wit or imagination. They include:

My computer crashed and I lost it
I finished my homework but then I deleted [...]

Core skills still needed in the brave new world

Trainee journalists lack core skills such as news gathering and writing when entering the workplace.
That is the headline grabbing conclusion of a new survey, with more than 70% of employers who took part in the research claiming increased focus on multimedia lessons as part of the curriculum means the basics are not being covered.
I really [...]

This is local news for local people

I admit I’m struggling with the debate surrounding the BBC’s £68m plans to dramatically increase its online coverage of local news.
The proposal has, inevitably, met with criticism from regional newspaper groups who are unimpressed that the Beeb would use licence payers money to fund the significant expansion to a network of 65 local sites.
Ofcom has [...]

Its not easy going green

When it comes to the environment and adopting a greener way of doing things the focus of recent years, certainly in the media, seems to have been on what we can do as individuals and households.
In many respects, business has got off quite lightly and more often than not has done a good job of [...]

The last Post or trumpeting a brave new world?

There was talk of a radical relaunch of The Birmingham Post when I joined in 2001 and just about every year until I left in 2006.
Now the bold changes are actually about to happen [Edit - my second take on the plans is here].
And they are certainly radical, impacting across all TrinityMirror’s titles in the Midlands.
The [...]

Generation Y, those bankers at Tesco, Victorian values and chimneys

A quick shoot-out of stories that have caught my eye today.
Companies are struggling to keep pace with Generation Y as the 18 to 28 year-olds are leading the way in technology adoption with nine out of 10 owning a PC and 82 per cent a mobile phone.
Apparently the key distinction between Generation X (me) and Generation Y [...]

No room left for slow starters

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. It is one of those throwaway lines that litter our lives, particularly in business.
But there is certainly some truth in the cliche.
And it seems to be increasingly the case in the world of television.
TV is still a dominant force in society, but there is little doubt that [...]

I’m the best driver in the world

Everyone thinks it, don’t they?
We all believe we are the best driver on the roads and any problems we encounter along the way are always the result of other motorists, bikers, cyclists and pedestrians.
So here’s a quick challenge to see just how aware you are behind the wheel.
It comes courtesy of Nicola Davies, part of [...]

Blogging in newspapers – the 3Cs still apply

One of my old editors kept banging on about the 3Cs – credibility, credibility, credibility.
If there was one basic mistake in a front-page exclusive splash then that story was ruined in his eyes.
His attitude irritated the hell out of me when I was a reporter because I felt he couldn’t see the bigger picture – [...]

IT fuelled by wood chips and methane

More companies are looking to power data centres with alternative fuels, such as burning wood chips and methane.
A “green” data centre currently being completed in Slough will draw power from a combined heat and power plant located on the same trading estate, which burns wood chips, waste paper and fibre fuel to generate electricity, hot [...]