The British Medical Association (BMA), will send ballot papers to their 103,000 members. The result will be known by the end of the month.

By 2014, some doctors will see deductions of 14.5% from their pay for their pensions, compared to 7.35% for senior civil servants on similar salaries, to receive similar pensions, said the BMA.

The BMA say that doctors at the beginning on their careers will be most affected by the new change as they will have to pay hundreds of thousands of extra pounds in lifetime pensions contributions.

Draw Something - OMGPOP

There’s no real reason to keep playing Draw Something, since racking up a certain number of turns doesn’t earn you much more than an ego boost, but that’s a testament to how fun it is, since there are millions of users scribbling away. The only thing you do gain from keeping at it is coins, which are obtained both from correctly guessing your opponents’ words and from them guessing yours.

Each turn you are presented with three words to choose from, an easy one worth only one coin, a middling one worth two, and a difficult one worth three. Since coins allow you to buy colours you don’t start the game having in your selection of drawing tools, it’s worth making that bit of extra effort and attempting some of those harder words, though this has led a regrettable number of players to just write the word out to gain their three coins faster.

Draw Something - OMGPOP

Not all players are as lacking in imagination, however, and there are plenty of examples of users who have created veritable masterpieces with their limited palette of colours. Some players even use the fact that Draw Something reveals your opponent’s drawing to you one line at a time to create what are basically animations. The game really encourages creativity, which can only be a good thing.
Where Draw Something differs from other app games is in the time it takes to play. Since you don’t have to be playing at the same time as your opponents, you can take your turn whenever you want, but each turn in itself can be quite time-consuming, especially for the harder words. This might deter some of those people who don’t like to put a lot of effort into playing games on their phones or tablets.

Draw Something - OMGPOP

One group with whom Draw Something does seem to be very popular is children. My eight-year-old sister and six-year-old brother love to draw on their iPad, and Draw Something gives them a framework in which to do that. Unfortunately, most of the words are beyond their understanding or drawing ability; one way in which Draw Something might be improved is by the addition of a child-friendly mode, with a younger vocabulary range.

Draw Something - OMGPOP

With Draw Something undergoing updates, however, this might well be something that happens in the future. Already, more and more words are being added, and there has even been the inclusion of a clever advertising feature, where brands are able to pay to have themselves featured as possible words to draw and guess. In a world where advertising seems to be necessary, this is at least more fun than pop-ups.
If you want to try Draw Something for yourself, there’s a free trial here, or you can purchase the full version for 69p here.

A million applicants who failed to buy tickets in the first round of olympic tickets are able to apply for up to four tickets for one sesion between now and the 17th of May. Around 900,000 tickets were made available on Friday to an initial 20,000 applicants.

These tickets for the Olympics 2012 have only been made available to people who missed out on tickets previously having already thought that they had secured tickets for the games. The London 2012 game organisers have said that atheltics, football and vollyball tickets will be made available to these applicants.

Lord Sebastian Coe told the Andrew Marr show: “Seventy five per cent of the 11 million tickets that available are in the hands of the British public. That’s a commitment we made right at the beginning of this process, and at the end of this process we will deliver it.

“There will be disappointment. I accept that. I am a sports fan. There was disappointment, that’s why in the opening round of ticket sales we committed to getting as many people who were in those initial ballots across the line.

“There has never been a sports ticket in history that has had such extraordinary demand.”

At just over a minute, this video is part of a short but snappy series of videos sponsored by the Europe-wide “Make Mine Milk” campaign. There are many celebrities taking part, including songstress and ex-Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, frequent F-word celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, and Ed Clancy, world championship cyclist. The whole campaign is to showcase the benefits of nutrient-dense, low fat cow’s milk. The associated website is packed with competitions, recipes, health and fitness advice from “Team Milk” (see banner below) and up and coming events. The campaign has just celebrated its second birthday.

The campaign has been garnering advertising awards across Europe, maintaining its longevity, and keeping front/hard man Vinnie Jones in the public eye. Vinnie is of course an interesting choice as the ace face for milk:

Vincent Peter “Vinnie” Jones (born 5 January 1965) is an English actor and retired footballer. Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. As a member of the “Crazy Gang”, Jones won the 1988 FA Cup Final with Wimbledon, a club for which he played well over 200 games during two spells between 1986 and 1998. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United.

He has capitalised on his tough man image as a footballer and is known as an actor for his aggressive style and intimidating demeanour, often being typecast into roles as coaches, hooligans and violent criminals. He is well remembered as the tough guy in Guy Ritchie’s first big successful film, “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”.

Who better then to play against type, and front up a campaign for a product that some may see as a softie’s drink, milk?

And so to this video series. In it Agony Uncle Vinnie dispenses pearls (or are they gobbets?) or wisdom in Vinnies Advice Corner. In the series he gives advice on a variety of matters, and on the website you can suggest other issues on which that you’d like to hear Mr Jones give his opinionated opinion!

In this particular video, Vinnie gives advice on Facebook Etiquette: It’s short it’s sharp, it’s meant to be not taken too seriously. The video begins with some delightfully twee agony-aunt type music and you expect to see perhaps some mumsy rotund middle-aged lady ready to empathise and give advice with warmth and sensitivity. Then Vinnie appears.

The advice is that no one likes a phoney or people telling “porky pies” (cockney rhyming slang for lies) on Facebook; pretending you like someone’s status because they’ve been having a great time on holiday in Barbados. He suggests that instead of oohing and aaahing over them having great weather, getting a tan, etc, you should just say “Glad you’re having fun. Why don’t you stay there? End of!” Nice!

The video works because it’s funny and irreverent, and Jones plays his part well. I look forward to seeing the others in the series.

See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvHzH3_boG8

The Family Corleone

This is a short 90 second trailer for the book by Ed Falco based on the screenplay by Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, and is a prequel to that book.
New York, 1933. The city and the nation are in the depths of the Great Depression. The crime families of New York have prospered in this time, but with the coming end of Prohibition, a battle is looming that will determine which organisations will rise . . . and which will face a violent end.

The video is accompanied by the haunting strings that instantly conjure up the Godfather trilogy at the movies, agonisingly beautiful, yet mournful and foreboding.
The video moves slowly and smoothly for a number of screen statements, such as that used in the title above, and a camera moving slowly across a desk with papers, maps, newspapers, casino chips, and memorabilia of a time gone by- one before the rise of the Corleone family.

We see knuckledusters, blood stains, a hand gun and bullets, and a tommy gun, all trademarks of a profession of violence, extortion and criminality, yet the music speaks of protection of loved ones and of family values.
The video works very well, balancing this apparent pathos with the underlying threat we know is there. The book advertised in this trailer tells the story of the young Vito Corleone in New York, when he is not yet Don. The author of this book, Falco, concentrates on the early life and the players affecting Vito’s rise and his competitors and his enemies; existing and future. He tells about young Sonny Corleone, the wild one in the first film and book, and other members of the family, and how they grew to become the people we know. If you have read The Godfather (or seen the film of the same name starring Marlon Brando and James Caan) this scene setter will fill-in the details that are sometimes hinted at in the actions and dialogue of that earlier book. If not, then I think it likely you will become hooked and find yourself being made an offer you can’t refuse!

See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT-nQgZRftw

The book is hardcover, published by Heinemann in Hardcover; (ISBN-10: 0434020982)

Here we have a video of less than two minutes with the intriguing title: “S#!* People Say About Investing”. Ooookkkk…. What might we expect here? No idea- so let us plunge in and see what happens:

We see a series of short video clips of the main character with sound bites about money: The first being:

“My horoscope says I am going to make lank money this month”

The combination of the word “lank” and the accent, made me sit up: This is South African!

For whereas we use lank as meaning something not too cool, such as having lank and lifeless hair, lank in SA means very numerous or plentiful; very good. It’s Afrikaner in origin: geld lank = money galore’.

So, I’m on the same wavelength- just about- let’s continue:

“How much?”

“What could possibly go wrong?”

And

“Don’t trust the Unit Trust” from the “lady” here- a cross-dresser I think (the adam’s apple always gives it away!)

Some are bizarre- such as “Lower risk, bigger yawns…”

And some are funny:

“Broker sounds poor!”

“It’s a rollercoaster ride”

“Isn’t that illegal?” “It’s not illegal!”

“I’d better get some sweet dividends from this!”

At this point, on a first watch through, I’m beginning to get the lovely rhythm of the SA accent, the banjo-plucking music, and the banality of investment-related statements. I think I’ve heard some of these myself when my Bank Manager thinks it’s time to tell me how I’m losing money having so much in a current account…

“If it’s expensive it means it’s good”

“Hedges are very difficult to maintain”

“If I won the lottery I’d invest it all. And give half to charity”

There’s a lot more amusing and odd statements packed into the short video and the gestures and mannerisms of the two main actors are pretty funny. The hand mannerism when he says .. rollercoaster..”, the “lady” offering a plate of chocolate Krugerands- these must be comedians maybe? I’m afraid I don’t know!

And that’s where I am left at the end. I don’t know what this has been advertising although it’s been a fun (rollercoaster?) ride. Perhaps we should just enjoy it for its off-the-wall nature, and wait for elucidation and answers in subsequent videos.

So, in conclusion, the absence of a brand or product means you can relax and enjoy the absurdity and banality of what bankers, investment analysts and out-and-out amateurs might tell you about making “wealth” (so much more fashionable than “money”), and I look forwards to seeing the light later on.

In the meantime, have a lank day!

See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlRZieIFmkM

This short video highlights a revolutionary new television, the Panasonic Smart VIERA. In fact, it seems wholly inadequate to describe it as a television. It’s a window to different experiences and interactions. No wonder it is the official television of the 2012 Olympic Games!

Why is it groundbreaking? Get a load of this: Stream multimedia from around the home to the TV, download apps for comfortably browsing the Web from your sofa, chat with your friends, browse your favourite websites and lots more – all on a top quality cutting edge widescreen TV. The New Panasonic Smart VIERA TV turns ordinary TV viewing into a new, smart world of multimedia enjoyment. With the Free VIERA Remote App, you can stream content to your TV from your smartphone or tablet.

It refocuses the centre of attention and entertainment for you and your family and friends back on your living room (or bedroom) TV. No more going to another room to look up something on you PC, lap-top, mobile, or to contact someone on Skype. Skype allows you to watch a live broadcast of your favourite event while chatting with your friend and sharing the excitement and joy. Just imagine that when watching the Olympic 100 metres final! Everything you want is there on a wide screen for all to see.

The video comes in at just over thirty seconds- precious little time you might think to convey the innovations evident in the smart VIERA. We see a young lad getting a Birthday present of a motor scooter, sent from an iPad to the VIERA,

Then a family switch from watching a wildlife documentary to looking at a shot of pregnant Mum’s ultrasound shot of her baby. We then see the sharing of an athletics race with friends before the final shots of the television receiving a signal from a pad.

The video is just a taster of a morsel from the feast that can be laid before us when you have the VIERA and the app connections. The video invites us to click to a site where there’s much more detail, and so avoids cluttering up the video with too information and threatening overload.

Share your whoops of joy and cartwheels across the Living room carpet as your favourite athlete grabs the Gold medal: With the VIERA Remote App you can share your pictures, videos, music and favourite websites with friends by a simple swipe of your hand from your smartphone or tablet. Share watching live broadcasts with friends anywhere in the world through Facebook and Twitter directly from your TV.

At the top of the screen all through the video is a link to a Panasonic Facebook page where there’s a competition in which you have the opportunity to enter a competition and win a Smart VIERA TV every day. Nice!

What is clear from the video and the links from it, is that the face of telly watching is now morphing into a completely new experience. My only concern is whether this will stop thousands of people ever wanting to go out of their houses for entertainment and engage with friends when they can do both from the comfort of their armchairs!

See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM7XzbXSi6M

The latest IKEA video should send you to sleep. No, it’s not a boring video at all; the aim is for you to get a good night’s sleep after you’ve bought yourself some decent IKEA bedroom furniture as advertised here.

To the sound of children’s wind-up chimes, we see a brace of people in the video who are in that in between state of not away, yet not properly asleep. We’ve all been there- perhaps you’re attending a tedious training course, or maybe the tube train is hot and stuffy, or there’s not enough around and about to stimulate you- but the root cause is that you didn’t have a restful sleep the night before. It’s all catching up with you. And it has certainly caught up with these people in the video. Big Time!

One poor chap bangs his head against a hand rail as he drops in and out of sleep, while another has dropped off on a park bench. The video is short and sweet. Less than a minute. No voice-over, just the images and the baby music box, and finally finishing with the strap line “Get a better night’s sleep” with the infamous yellow and blue IKEA logo.

What’s interesting is that there’s no pictures of IKEA beds or bedroom furniture. The video is there to amuse, rather than inform, although its secondary (and to the company probably more important) purpose is to remind you that IKEA is there whenever it’s time for you to replace your bed, or re-design your bedroom.

But there’s more to this. IKEA say “Know someone that tends to doze off when they shouldn’t? Are they more sleeping beast than sleeping beauty? Take a picture and share it with us. You could both win everything you need to sleep like a princess in our exclusive IKEA FAMILY competition,”

They are inviting everyone to take a photos of people nodding off. They will then be uploaded to the IKEA UK Facebook page. Five napper snapper finalists will be selected from those who garner the most “like” tags from Facebook; the voting is running until April 20. After that, IKEA will select one winner from the five top-rated photos, and provide the napper and the snapper with the ‘full package’ for a perfect sleep, all worth up to £1500 each. Nice idea!

From the comments on the video it’s clear that people readily recognise the phenomenon of the dozers on transport, and relatives catching those missing forty winks from the night before on the settee. Should be interesting seeing the pictures- I just hope I’m not in one of them- zzzzzz!
See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mWDs2nYfvg

Some of the 40 new rules introduced by Enfield include banning children from climbing trees, flying kites in their parks, a ban on model aircrafts, riding cycles anywhere other than the correct cycle lanes and roller-skating in an “annoying” , dangerous way.

Public would have to be cautious about swimming in lakes, playing golf, and “riding a horse in a way that endangers others”.

Adults who break the rules can expect a fine of £500 while children will be charged under “anti-social behavior laws”.

With the introduction of these laws the Town hall chiefs have been called “killjoys” by angry parents, who say that the new law enforcements would hinder children’s active outdoor lives.

The new rules replace 50 year old by rules and includes a camping ban  to prevent it during the Olympics.