Monday 6 April 2009

ON THE FRONT PAGE

I was rather surprised to receive a text last Friday morning from a friend saying: "Just spotted your picture on the uni home page - very nice". Instantly I rush to http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ and find that yes, indeed, I am on the University of Sheffield homepage. How embarrassing. Regular readers of my blog may remember when I was doing a prospectus photoshoot last November (click here). Well, it was that picture [right] that made it online! I received dozens of texts and emails from friends, saying "have you seen it yet?", and it was quite exciting to have all the attention really. One of my work colleagues said that I looked like a Lord of the Rings gatekeeper. Thanks for that, Rob.

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My mother received a call last week from the Daily Telegraph asking if we wanted to subscribe for a period at a price of 60p off each issue. She told me that this is because everyone's reading newspapers online (Strike 1). I bought a copy of the Yorkshire Post a few weeks ago in between two lectures, and my friend asked me why I didn't just read their website for free and save 50p (Strike 2). I see the Daily Star is now often dedicating more front-page space to the fact that it's cheaper than The Sun and the News of the World, than its lead story (Strike 3).

There has been enough written about the decline of newspapers, especially local, so I don't want to go into that. But I just don't like reading news online. I love to sit down with a newspaper and flick through it, reading some articles and skimming others of less interest. There's no substitute for this online. Yes, you might be able to get your news quicker and that's certainly a good thing, but am I alone in enjoying the daily idea of sitting down and reading a newspaper? I hope not. Show your support for the printed newspaper!

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There was a fascinating article in The Independent today on an Financial Services Authority investigation into "a series of insider dealing scams" on the stock market recently (click here). The basics of it are that people with insider knowledge of imminent company mergers or takeovers are buying shares cheap, then watching the price rise as everyone else purchases them, and then selling them at a profit. This is clearly unethical trading as the insiders have an unfair advantage on everyone else. I put a lot of effort into my own investments in shares, so I don't like to see others making bigger profits just because they know the right people. But I suppose that's just tough luck for me.

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Alan Shearer is back at Newcastle United, which is something I'm very pleased about. But the big question is, can the former Number 9 revitalise a struggling side who have one just one game since Christmas, and help them avoid the drop into the Championship? I'm pretty confident that the 'Shearer bounce' effect will have a huge impact on the players and fans, as his presence in itself around the training ground and dressing room is enough to motivate the team. However it's looking increasingly likely that time is running out for the Toon Army, and that the Geordies should starting looking at directions to Peterborough and Blackpool, not Manchester or Liverpool anymore. It's very upsetting to see the demise of such a great club, but maybe going down would give them the chance to completely rebuild the team and come back stronger. It happened to West Ham United, and they are in a much better position now.

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Many thanks to all those currently viewing my blog. It's great fun writing it, and the fact I'm getting over 120 hits a week shows that you like it too, so I'm pleased! And if you're one of the readers from India, Cyprus or Canada, please let me know - it's good to hear that I'm getting international exposure, according to Google Analytics...