World Cup attacked for 'unhealthy sponsors'

FIFA has scored an "own goal" by agreeing sponsorship deals for the 2010 World Cup with companies that sell unhealthy products, campaigners say.

The World Cancer Research Fund criticised the governing body for partnering with the likes of Coca Cola, McDonald's and Budweiser.

It said the tournament should be an opportunity to promote active lifestyles.

Advertisers denied the deals would negatively impact children's diets.

The three companies are partners or official sponsors for the World Cup giving them a visible presence inside the stadiums on advertising hoardings and digital displays.

And the charity believes that with matches being watched by billions of people in more than 200 countries people across the world will be influenced.

Number of job vacancies 'rises across UK'

The number of job vacancies across the UK rose slightly last month, but the pay on offer fell, a report has said.

Employment agency Reed said 1% more jobs were offered by firms through its service in May compared with April.

At the same time, it said the average wage available declined by 4.2% to £31,800 in May, from £33,200 in April.

Job demand rose most in the charity and voluntary sectors, followed by marketing, public relations, legal and secretarial.

Reed said about 90,000 jobs were offered though it in total last month.

The Enterprising Game

This week one of my admin classes were fortunate enough to participate in a new innovative enterprising game. Fiona Downie and Ann Jackson from South Lanarkshire Council came into the class to introduce the game and take part with the pupils.

Players run their own business and must use their entrepreneurial skills to try and make their enterprise as successful as possible.

They ‘make, sell and deliver’ to customers around the board, having to overcome inevitable problems and make decisions about how best to reinvest any profits into the growth of their business.

The enterprise with the greatest value wins the game!

Pupils had a great time playing the game, they learned new key terms and got to test their enterprising skills against peers. We were fortunate enough to be asked to plot the enterprising game in our school therefore we can look forward to playing again soon.

For more info visit the following link:
http://www.theenterprisegame.com/

Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad

Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.

US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.

Coupled with a tiny projector the system can use the skin as a surface on which to display menu choices, a number pad or a screen.

Early trials show that after a short amount of training the sensor/software system can pick up a five-location system with accuracy in excess of 95%.

For more information and to view the video click, click on the link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8587486.stm

Times and Sunday Times websites to charge from June

Is this the way forward for all newspapers?

The Times and Sunday Times newspapers will start charging to access their websites in June, owner News International (NI) has announced.

Users will pay £1 for a day's access and £2 for a week's subscription.

The move opens a new front in the battle for readership and will be watched closely by the industry.

NI chief executive Rebekah Brooks said it was "a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition".

Risk

But with so much news content available for free on the internet, NI's decision to charge is seen by many people as a high risk strategy.

How much would you pay to read your favorite newspaper online?

Six arrested in FSA insider dealing probe

Six people have been arrested in a joint Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) insider dealing inquiry.

The joint operation, the first between the two agencies, began in 2007.
The arrests came after 16 addresses were searched in London, the South East and Oxfordshire in the FSA's largest ever operation against insider dealing.

Documents and computers were seized from residential and business premises, while six men were arrested. The six include two senior city professionals at leading city institutions and one city professional at a hedge fund. They are suspected of being involved in what the FSA calls "a sophisticated and long-running insider dealing ring". It is alleged the city professionals passed inside information to traders, either directly or via middlemen.

The traders then allegedly acted on this information and made significant profits as a result.
A total of 143 FSA employees took part in the operation, together with officers from Soca.

BA still cancels flights in the aftermath of strikes

British Airways is still cancelling flights in the aftermath of a three-day strike by cabin crew.
The airline's website shows it has cancelled nearly 200, or more than 19%, of flights that had been scheduled up to midnight on Tuesday.
BA is reviewing its schedule for a further strike between 27 and 30 March.
No further talks to resolve the dispute are planned ahead of the next walkout, but unions have challenged BA chief Willie Walsh to return to negotiations.
BA says the majority of services in the next four days will operate normally.
But on Tuesday, in the immediate aftermath of the strike, its services at a number of major British airports continued to be disrupted.
More cancellations
At London Heathrow, its biggest UK hub, it has cancelled 14% of outgoing flights and more than a third (34.2%) of arrivals.
At Manchester, more a a fifth of all services have been cancelled.
At Newcastle, the figure is even higher, at 58.3%.
Aberdeen, with more than 28% of BA flights cancelled, and Glasgow, at 18.2%, are also among the worst-hit.
Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Belfast and Inverness are unaffected.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange about its operations over the weekend, BA said it estimated the three-day strike had cost the company £7m a day.