August 2015

Watching too much TV can kill you, researchers warn

People who spend hours bingeing on television shows run the risk of suffering a fatal pulmonary embolism, according to a major new study of more than 86,000 people tracked over 18 years. Pulmonary embolism is a blockage in the artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs, and is usually caused by a blood clot formed in a vein in the leg. Up to 60,000 people die as a result of pulmonary embolism each year in Britain.

Those who indulge in marathon TV sessions should take the same precautions against developing deadly blood clots as they would on a long-distance flight, warns the research, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology conference in London.
Independent 29/8/2015
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From relationships to revolutions: seven ways Facebook has changed the world

On Monday, one in seven people on Earth used Facebook – 1 billion people, according to founder Mark Zuckerberg. In a decade, the social network has transformed people’s relationships, privacy, their businesses, the news media, helped topple regimes and even changed the meaning of everyday words.

“A more open and connected world is a better world. It brings stronger relationships with those you love, a stronger economy with more opportunities, and a stronger society that reflects all of our values,” wrote Zuckerberg in the post announcing the numbers. The following are just some of the ways his company changed everything – for better or worse…
Guardian 28/8/2015
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Are tablet computers harming our children’s ability to read?

Since the invention of the television, a box you could put a child in front of and leave them passively entertained, nothing has changed how children spend their time as much as the tablet computer. Four years ago, just 7% of 5- to 15-year-olds in the UK had access to a tablet. By last year it was 71%. Some 34% of this age group even owned the tablets themselves, as well as 11% of 3- to 4-year-olds, according to Ofcom figures.

But the popularity of tablets among children is a controversial topic. Are these devices – with their apps, games and access to online video – distracting children from more traditional, some might say more wholesome, activities, such as reading?
Guardian 24/8/2015
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Hundreds of revenge porn victims contact new government funded helpline leading to 1,800 calls in just six months

Hundreds of revenge porn victims have rung a new Government-funded helpline, seeking legal help and information on removing the offensive images. Since the service was launched in February, more than 1,800 calls have been received in just six months, Ministers announced last night.

The figures emerged just weeks after the first sentencing of offenders under a new revenge pornography offence, introduced by the Government last year.
MailOnline 23/8/2015
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Is this really the beginning of the end for web ads?

Mail Online is one of the world’s most popular news websites and it’s free: no paywall. But my browser has a plug-in program called Ghostery, which will scan any web page you visit and tell you how many “third-party trackers” it has found on it. These are small pieces of code that advertisers and ad-brokers place on pages or in cookies in order to monitor what you’re doing on the web and where you’ve been before hitting the current page. When I looked at the Mail Online report, Ghostery found 31 such trackers. Some of them came from familiar names (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Pinterest, Doubleclick). But others were placed by outfits I have never heard of, for example, Bidswitch, Brightcove, Crimtan, Sonobi, Taboola. These are companies that act as high-speed intermediaries between your browser and firms wanting to place ads on the web page you’re viewing. And theirs is the industry that pays the bills (and sometimes makes a profit) for the publisher whose “free” content you are perusing.
The Guardian 23/8/2015
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Hundreds of revenge porn victims contact new government funded helpline leading to 1,800 calls in just six months

Hundreds of revenge porn victims have rung a new Government-funded helpline, seeking legal help and information on removing the offensive images. Since the service was launched in February, more than 1,800 calls have been received in just six months, Ministers announced last night. The figures emerged just weeks after the first sentencing of offenders under a new revenge pornography offence, introduced by the Government last year.
The Daily Mail 22/8/2015
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iPlayer gets a reboot: BBC rolls out series of new features including option to restart live programmes as it looks to keep pace with services such as Netflix and Amazon

The BBC today announced iPlayer viewers will have the option to restart live programmes on a TV, as it introduced various new catch-up features. The feature – which already works on desktop computer versions of the app – will now be available on smart TVs, enabling users to jump back to the beginning of a show during a live broadcast. The Live Restart function has been added to the on-demand service along with cross-device pause and resume, to allow viewers to pause a stream on one device and then pick it up on another.
Daily Mail 19/8/2015
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These explicit music videos won’t get age ratings. Seriously

Some of the biggest recording labels – Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music – have agreed to submit the videos they produce to the BBFC before uploading them to the sites. But the American offices of these labels have not agreed to the system, meaning any artist who is signed with them won’t have their videos subjected to ratings.

It means that some of the raunchiest music videos out there – even the ones that first sparked this move towards a classification system – won’t actually be affected by it.
Telegraph 18/6/2015
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News channels breached sponsorship rules, Ofcom says

Global news channels BBC World News and CNN International broke UK broadcasting rules by airing shows funded by foreign governments, charities and other bodies, media watchdog Ofcom has ruled. The four-year inquiry examined hundreds of hours of footage broadcast from 2009 to 2011 and found almost 50 breaches.
BBCOnline 18/6/2015
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Age rating to be permanent feature on online music videos

Online music videos will now get age ratings in the same way films do, following a government pilot. Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music will send videos to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) before putting them on YouTube and Vevo.

Of the 132 videos submitted to the BBFC so far, 56 are rated 12 and 53 classified 15. Only one video got an 18 certificate – Dizzee Rascal’s Couple Of Stack.These age ratings will only be applied to music videos produced in the UK.
BBC Newsbeat 18/6/2015
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Angry victims of revenge porn reveal how they were deluged with revolting sexual comments and rape threats after explicit photos were posted online

It has affected girls as young as 12 and women as old as 67 but the craze for revenge porn, despite being made a criminal offence earlier this year, shows no sign of slowing down. Now some of the victims, women whose explicit photos have been posted on the internet without their consent, have spoken out about the anguish caused to them. One, whose photos were viewed multiple times, said it made her feel as if she had been ‘abused 30,000 times’, while another said discovering nude pictures of herself online made her ‘feel ill’.
The Daily Mail 17/8/2015
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Do video games make people violent?

More than 200 academics have signed an open letter criticising controversial new research suggesting a link between violent video games and aggression. The findings were released by the American Psychological Association. It set up a taskforce that reviewed hundreds of studies and papers published between 2005 and 2013.

The American Psychological Association concluded while there was “no single risk factor” to blame for aggression, violent video games did contribute. “The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in pro-social behaviour, empathy and sensitivity to aggression,” said the report.
BBCOnline 17/6/2015
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Revealed… how watching porn really affects your BRAIN

Teenagers as young as 13 regularly watch it, and for millions of adults it is their guilty pleasure. Pornography offers men and women alike a chance to explore their sexual fantasies. But while X-rated images and films can help boost your libido, and many report it improves relationships, there is another side affecting your health. From releasing mood-boosting hormones to triggering addictive tendencies, porn can have a sinister effect on our brains.
The Daily Mail 14/8/2015
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We can’t ignore that technology is changing our brains

Do computer games and internet use wreak havoc on young brains? That’s the debate I seem to have been dragged into, thanks to the potentially adverse effects of information technology (IT) that I described in my recent book Mind Change.

I have never suggested that reasonable use of the internet “harms” the adolescent brain. But it’s worth noting that recent research shows that some teens are using IT for up to up to 18 hours per day, when media-multi-tasking is taken into account . Palatable or not, other research suggests that intense use of the internet and video games may lead to microstructural abnormalities in the brain, and the effects may be comparable to those of drug abuse.
Telegraph 13/8/2015
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APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression

Violent video game play is linked to increased aggression in players but insufficient evidence exists about whether the link extends to criminal violence or delinquency, according to a new American Psychological Association task force report. “The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression,” says the report of the APA Task Force on Violent Media. The task force’s review is the first in this field to examine the breadth of studies included and to undertake multiple approaches to reviewing the literature.

“Scientists have investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence,” said Mark Appelbaum, PhD, task force chair. “However, the link between violence in video games and increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best established in the field.” “No single risk factor consistently leads a person to act aggressively or violently,” the report states. “Rather, it is the accumulation of risk factors that tends to lead to aggressive or violent behavior. The research reviewed here demonstrates that violent video game use is one such risk factor.”
The American Psychological Association 13/8/2015
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‘They’re not giving me enough attention’: Children reveal how their parents’ addiction to mobile phones makes them REALLY feel in thought-provoking new video

A new campaign video has revealed what children really think of their parents addiction to their electronic devices. Contrary to popular belief the so-called Internet generation are not impressed with the excessive use of gadgets and most admit it actually makes them feel ignored. The two minute video features a selection of seven to 11-year-old children as they are asked how they feel about their mothers and fathers’ obsession with technology.
The Daily Mail 12/8/2015
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How sexy selfies can lead to revenge porn: Anna Richardson uploads naked photo of herself posing provocatively for TV show… and is horrified when it’s seen 43,000 times

A new documentary aims to expose just how vulnerable internet users are to revenge porn…and also lifts the lid on just who the perpetrators are. Presented by Anna Richardson, the Channel 4 programme, which airs on Monday, looks at how wreaking revenge on a former partner by publishing intimate photos of them on the web can have devastating consequences. Revenge porn – classified as the sharing of private, sexual photographs or films without the consent of the subject – was made a crime in the UK in April this year.
The Daily Mail 12/8/2015
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Cyber safety: How protected are your children online?

Too many kids are spending the holidays welded to their devices. Zoe Brennan sifts through the latest research and asks: should we be worried? “We tend to give the child a tablet or a phone for a bit of peace and quiet, then worry that they are accessing violence; and we are obsessed with ‘stranger danger’ and our teenagers interacting with dodgy people. We don’t know what’s problematic, and what’s good.” And we are right to be concerned. She highlights the innocuous-sounding Happy Wheels game, in which players suffer gruesome accidents. “It’s quite nasty, violent and gory,” she says. “Yet I’ve seen six-year-olds playing it.”
The Daily Telegraph 11/8/2015
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Gaspar Noé’s 3D sex film Love hit by raised age rating in French cinemas

Complaints of censorship have erupted in France after Love, the controversial 3D film from enfant-terrible auteur Gaspar Noé, had its certificate changed three weeks after its initial release. After its premiere at the Cannes film festival, Love was originally awarded a 16 certificate, but an appeal to the administrative court in Paris saw it raised to an 18 earlier this week. Calling the decision “nonsense”, Noé told French newspaper Libération that his main concern was that “directors or producers may start to be afraid. There is a risk that the film-makers or writers censor themselves.”
The Guardian 6/8/2015
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Pornhub launches ‘Netflix for porn’ subscription service

Pornhub, a vast network of online adult content which attracts a 6 million visitors a day, has launched Pornhub Premium, a paid subscription platform it calls “Netflix for porn” in a move that will be closely watched by all of the online media world from music to news.
Guardian 6/8/2015
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My kids taught me about online porn

Porn is apparently putting older couples off sex, but camping in a Sussex field with friends, Judith Woods’s teenagers gave her an insight into the real world of cybersex
The Daily Telegraph 6/8/2015
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Britons ‘love smartphones and selfies’

Smartphones have edged ahead of laptops for the first time as the preferred devices for connecting online in the UK, a report by Ofcom says. The communications watchdog said 33% of Britons opted for smartphones as the device of choice in 2014, ahead of 30% who preferred laptops. Ofcom said the toppling of the laptop was a “landmark moment”. Data from studies in 2014 also suggests that Britons took 1.2bn selfies last year, it said. Some 31% of Britons said they had taken a picture of themselves in the past year, with one in 10 adults taking at least one per week, Ofcom added.
BBCOnline 6/8/2015
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iPhones ‘are killing children’s ability to communicate’, Tristram Hunt says

iPhones are killing children’s ability to communicate, the shadow education secretary has said as he blamed parents for not talking to their children. Tristram Hunt has also said he is concerned poor parenting is “at fault” when it comes to nurturing their children “emotional development” instead of letting them scroll down their smartphone. His comments follow warnings from leading academics that mobile should come with health warnings.

Mr Hunt said he has frequent conversations with primary head teachers who talk about “the challenge they face in getting their pupils up to the relevant level of progress, given their various developmental delays”.
The Daily Telegraph 5/8/2015
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India lifts porn ban after widespread outrage

India will restore free access to 857 pornographic websites, following widespread outrage over the move. The department of telecom told internet service providers not to disable URLs that “do not have child pornographic content”, the PTI agency reported.

The government denied charges of moral policing, saying it wanted to prevent children from accessing the sites. In July, the Supreme Court criticised the government’s inability to block sites featuring child pornography.
BBC News Online 5/8/2015
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Crewkerne woman concerned after ‘pornographic’ Fifty Shades of Grey stocked in supermarkets

A CREWKERNE woman has raised concern after merchandise from the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise was stocked within reach of children in several major supermarkets. Pippa Smith wrote to Waitrose and the Co-operative to complain that they were selling Grey, the latest novel from EL James, along with the DVD of the movie adaptation of the book series from promotional stands in their Crewkerne branches. The novels and film tell the story of the volatile relationship between protagonists Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele and features explicit sexual content, including graphic depictions of bondage and sadomasochism.

In letters to both supermarkets, Mrs Smith wrote: “These “pornographic” books are not about a love story, but all about sexual abuse.
Western Gazette 4/8/2015
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Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish ministers unite for BBC charter message

Ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have joined forces to ensure their administrations are given a formal role in agreeing the new BBC charter. With the corporation’s royal charter up for review, Scottish culture secretary Fiona Hyslop held talks in Glasgow with her counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland. She claimed afterwards the BBC is “failing to meet the expectations” of viewers in Scotland, with “positive reform” needed, not “excuses for cuts”. Hyslop made the comments after meeting Northern Ireland culture minister Caral Ni Chuilin and Welsh deputy minister for culture Ken Skates.
The Guardian 4/8/2015
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India bans pornography from the internet

India – the country that invented sex manual the Kama Sutra – has blocked hundreds of pornographic websites to top adult material becoming a ‘social nuisance’. A government official confirmed today that internet service providers have been told to block 857 websites as part of a crackdown on internet porn. ‘Free and open access to porn websites has been brought under check,’ N.N. Kaul, a spokesman for the department of telecommunications, said.
The Daily Mail 3/8/2015
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Shock as teenagers taught about hardcore porn and oral sex in school

A shockingly explicit TV show featuring Lancashire schoolchildren writing their own hardcore porn stories and discussing oral sex is to be aired on Channel 4. It features 13 teenage students, from the Hollins Technology College in Accrington, who volunteer to take part in the classes, taught by Belgian’s Goedelle Liekens, the UN Goodwill Ambassador for sexual health. Liekens is campaigning for a GCSE in sex education, which would include the controversial lessons, and an exam in “sexual pleasure”. These are currently taught to schoolchildren in both Belgium and Holland.

Over her two-week course, filmed for the show Sex in Class, the 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls undertake homework. The boys are asked to make a “work of art” out of female genitalia, while the girls are told to “examine themselves with a handheld mirror”. Several schoolboys in the class make shocking confessions to the camera about how much pornography they watch, and detail the explicit nature of many of the scenes. Liekens claims that 83 per cent of children “have seen porn by the time they are 13 years old”.
The Sunday Express 2/8/2015
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