We will be joined by Jeremy Corbyn, trade unionists and community
activists from across the country at this event on Sunday in Kilburn. This will be a coming together to
show support for Jeremy’s vision to rebuild and transform Britain.
This is a ticketed event so please RSVP HERE
The moral panic surrounding the launch of new media titles is not new, as I have discussed previously
when comparing the audience response of Disney’s film ‘Frozen’ to that
of the Disney ‘Davy Crockett’ film launched in the 1950s, but what is of
interest is the speed of this response, given that ‘Pokémon Go’ was
only launched a few weeks ago, on July 6th. The rapid take-up of the app
has occurred with little direct marketing.
For
the uninitiated, the free-to-play app draws on augmented reality
technology to enable players to capture and train virtual Pokémon
creatures, whose images pop up, overlaid on the ‘real’ world, on a
mobile device. Augmented Reality (AR) consists of a blend of the
physical world and the virtual world. In this blended reality,
three-dimensional images or environments are projected onto a physical
object or terrain, but users are not immersed in the same way as they
are with virtual reality experiences.
This is not the first app to use augmented reality to entice its users. We undertook a research study
on under 5’s use of tablet apps in the UK, in which children’s
engagement with augmented reality apps was examined. The research team
watched as children, enthralled, made the popular charity figure Pudsey
bear appear in 3D and dance to disco music using the Quiver app, or played with augmented reality animals that appeared in the ‘AR Flascards’ app. As we stated in a subsequent paper
from the study which reflected on play in the digital age,
“Contemporary play draws on both the digital and non-digital properties
of things and in doing so moves fluidly across boundaries of space and
time in ways that were not possible in the pre-digital era” (Marsh et
al., 2016). Augmented reality technology is still at an early stage of
development, but the hype surrounding it indicates that it has the
potential to excite and is a feature that is bound to become more
prevalent in the toy and game industry in the future.
The
‘Pokémon Go’ app is notable for its popularity across generations. It
appeals to those who collected the plastic Pokémon monsters in the
brand’s earlier incarnations, taking them back to a fondly remembered
childhood pastime. It could even remind them of previous GPS
location-based tagging games they may have played, such as ‘Foursquare’
(whose creator, Dennis Crowley, has said he is not at all bitter about the success of ‘Pokémon Go’).
Such nostalgic media practices are nothing new, as numerous scholars have noted,
but what makes this one particularly exciting for its adult fans is the
transformation of their childhood monsters into virtual characters that
live in their smartphone. The app is also drawing in a new Pokémon
audience, one that knows little about the original television animation,
video games or toys, launched initially in 1995. It offers
opportunities, therefore, for family play, as noted by commentators who are keen to identify the game’s positive elements in the face of all of the media panic. And, as some have asked, shouldn’t we be pleased that the game has got people off sofas and into their local environments?
Of
course, this calculated appeal to an intergenerational audience is one
that is already paying off, with the app becoming more successful on
launch than Candy Crush, and Nintendo, the original creators of Pokémon,
estimated
to be worth an additional $12 billion because of it. For both Nintendo
and Niantic, the company that created the app, the real value of the
game may not be in the microtransactions it embeds, with the possibility
to purchase in-game features, but in the potential commercial use of
the data it collects from the people who play it. This, as scholars of children’s media practices have pointed out in relation to other digital games, raises key questions about data privacy and children’s rights.
It
would seem, therefore, that the launch of ‘Pokémon Go’ has resulted in
the familiar tropes of panic and hype that surround many launches of new
games and toys. The longevity of the app is difficult to ascertain at
this point in time. When the excitement dies down, it remains to be seen
what the impact of the app will be on future markets for this kind of
game.
‘Pokémon
Go’ has succeeded because of its combination of GPS and augmented
reality technologies, linked to a very popular media brand that already
involved collecting items — thus, players enjoy the familiarity of
playing with the old alongside experiencing the excitement of engaging
with the new. It will be difficult for other game studios to copy that
specific dynamic, but no doubt there will be many attempts to do so, and
we could see location-based AR games becoming further intertwined with
popular culture as people search local communities for virtual
representations of toys, musicians, TV and film characters, media icons
and more.
In
time, apps may be made available that enable user-generated content, so
that the general public can leave their virtual wares in physical spaces
for others to gather. Given children’s appetite for media content
created by other children, that would undoubtedly be a popular type of
app, albeit one potentially fraught with all kinds of safety issues. It
will be incumbent upon researchers of children’s media use to trace the
risks embedded in such developments, but also to identify the
opportunities they present for engaging children and young people in
digital content creation.
Now, forgive me, but I really have to leave it at that and get ready to go to my local ‘Pokémon Picnic’ — who knows, I might catch an Articuno…
– Jackie MarshProfessor of Education, Chair of the DigiLitEY project.
The Green Party has urged the British Government to act on its promise to help unaccompanied child refugees as UK councillors visit Calais LINK.
Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said:
Britain has a humanitarian responsibility to help the unaccompanied children in Calais - and through what was known as the Dubbs amendment, passed four months ago, we have promised to do so.
Yet the Government has not acted, and thousands of unaccompanied children fleeing war have been left in acute danger.
History will not judge us favourably if we abandon our responsibility to these children.
The Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre, loved by generations of Brent children, was saved from closure when Thames 21 took over its running.
The extensive grounds need regular conservation to maximise habitat provision and volunteers are needed this Sunday, August 21st, 10am - 2pm to work on forming glades.
The extensive woodlands around the Centre (red circle)
This is the notice from Thames 21
INTERESTED IN CONSERVATION? Be part of a new Friends of the Welsh Harp group at this first Conservation Day.
This exciting new group will support the activities of the Welsh Harp
Environmental Education Centre and you will learn how to manage the
habitats in the area.
All welcome. Under 16’s need to be accompanied by a responsible
adult. Please bring a packed lunch. Meeting location will be at
the Education Centre.
We are going to be continuing forming glades as we did during the
first successful event. Thank you to all of those who made that event a
success! A glade is an open area within a woodland. A lot of the glades
around the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre are choked with ivy, as a consequence, biodiversity is not as high as it could be at
ground level within the woodland.
If the temperature is a lot cooler, we may tackle some small
blackthorn trees intruding on an area which should be wild grassland.
The Centre is at the end of Birchen Grove, off Blackbird Hill, Kingsbury, NW9 8RY Go through the large green gates and it is on the left past the allotments. Buses 182, 245 and 297 to Blackbird Hill get off at Lidl/McDonalds. 83 bus get off at Tudor Gardens.
Patients of the Sudbury Primary Care Practice are objecting to their GP practice being taken over a new provider without any consultation. In this guest blog Paul Lorber expresses his anger about their treatment by NHS England:
The patients from Sudbury have had enough of being messed about by the bureaucrats from NHS England.
We therefore occupied the GP Surgery in protest at being ignored.
NHS England are refusing inform us as patients and do not respond to any communications.
We (I have been a patient of this practice for over 30 years) have therefore decided to take direct action to hammer home our message.
More occupations are planned as we are determined to keep our existing doctors and not have the GP Surgery taken over.
These are my letters to NHS England:
Dear Ms Peppard
Please treat this email as a formal complaint against NHS England.
NHS England have created confusion, uncertainty and worry for the over 8,000 patients at this GP Surgery over the past 12 months.
NHS England representatives have provided misinformation and NO information and failed to respond to questions on a timely basis.
It is clear to me as a taxpayer that all the NHS England is good at is to waste public money and that the organisation is nothing more than a self serving waste of time.
Can you please pass this email to the head of NHS England and ask him/her to answer a very simple question by Friday of this week - What have NHS England done with my GPs and why have they failed to inform me?
Yours sincerely Paul Lorber
Dear Ms Peppard
I note that another 9 days have passed without any information from NHS England.
After all I am only a patient so what do I matter?
Yet the NHS England spokesperson is happy to tell the local Newspaper that a new provider will take over my GP Surgery on 1 November.
In view of this confident statement of certainty I fail to see why NHS England do have the decency to respond to questions from patients or to keep us informed.
I appreciate that you wish that we all just died or disappeared. Unfortunately we have no intention of doing so and every intention of fighting for our rights and our GPs.
Can you please respond by this Friday.
Yours faithfully
Paul Lorber Patient at Sudbury Vale Farm GP Practice and a Taxpayer contributing to the salaries of NHS England Staff
CVS Training Room, Ground Floor 5 Rutherford Way, Wembley, HA9
0BP Thurs 15 Sept, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
If you are a sickle cell patient, Brent CCG
cordially invites you to trek to Wembley Park for a meeting to deliver
personally, the news that it is about to close the BSCASS (Brent Sickle Cell
Advisory Support Service) project 2 days after the meeting.
Brent CCG regrets it has no money (or
thought) to schedule the meeting in Stonebridge or Harlesden for the
convenience of a vulnerable group of patients.
Brent CCG further regrets it sees no need to
include people who are at high risk of developing sickle cell either.
Brent CCG is pleased however that it does
have the money to spend on expensive solicitors to fend off attempts by Brent
Patient Voice to ensure the CCG complies with proper contract termination
processes; to explain why it had not undertaken an Equality Impact
Assessment before making the decision to cease funding; to give an
undertaking that it would put an alternative support service in place to
patients who have already seen their service relocated to Northwick Park, a
mere 2 bus rides away, and so on and so forth.
The CCG recognises the project has been
effective in reducing hospital out-patient and in-patient admissions. The
Sickle Cell Society has the provider contract for the BSCASS project. The
annual cost is £70,000 which pays for 2 workers. The project was
originally planned (and costed) for 3 years having started in May 2015.
Part of the contract included an agreed joint
governance structure through a steering group. The CCG senior rep only
ever attended one meeting. The CCG had voiced no dissatisfaction with
performance yet suddenly now, it is concerned that the service is not reaching
enough patients. All voluntary sector projects take time to ramp up
having first to recruit staff then to set the service up. The CCG
however, seems to believe that setting up a community project just requires the
handing out of money with no follow-up responsibility for any of the community
development or capacity building activity necessary to get the new service
going.
Contrast this with the help and support the
CCG gives to the Royal Free Hospital as provider of the outpatient cardiology
service to help the RF meet its KPIs (key performance indicators) and the RF’s
continued failure to fully deliver. Better still, more than a year after
the CCG was set up it was still using it’s newness as an excuse for poor
performance in several areas! Different rules for them it seems.
Re the 15 Sept meeting (no consultation from
the CCG on date and time, surprise, surprise) I expect Brent CCG would
appreciate some help on how a parent is meant to leave Wembley Park at 3 p.m.
to get to Harlesden in time to pick children up from school.
Contributions can be e-mailed to: breccg.brentenquiries@nhs.net
Not sure whether the CCG will listen to sense re the meeting date/time,
participation, or anything else, so do watch this space for any updates
The
Terrence Higgins Trust with Brent are Celebrating Diversity and promoting
better sexual health at Brent Mini Pride
Terrence
Higgins Trust will be at Brent Pride on Saturday 17th
September to raise awareness of HIV and of the importance of good sexual
health by promoting sexual health screening and engaging with the local
community in Brent
The UK’s
leading HIV and sexual health charity will be offering residents the
opportunity to come out and celebrate all that is great about Brent’s
culturally diverse community. We will be at Rucklidge Ave Park, Harlesden, NW10
4PS ( nearest tube station Willesden Junction) Between 12pm – 6pm.
Also at
the event will be Brent Fostering Services who will be on hand to offer advice
and support to those considering or wanting to foster children needing a home.
There will also be an ice cream bar, deck chairs for sun bathing (
weather permitting) and music to chill out to and a balloon launch to
mark the occasion along with members from our specialist team on hand to over
advice and support along with free give a ways.
Mark
Banfield Project Manager at Terrence Higgins Trust, said:
Brent is a
fantastic place to be and work in now, with a such a diverse depth of cultures
living together Brent truly demonstrates and encompasses the values of
tolerance, community and unity; it in these values that we are united in and
our acceptance of others and is something we should all feel proud to be a part
of. ‘Pride is a huge celebration for the Brent and we’re thrilled to have the
opportunity to shine. We want everyone to enjoy a safe and happy Pride,
so we would encourage people to drop by our Terrence Higgins Trust stalls to
get the resources they need – whether it’s condoms, information about local
testing services, or just to ask a question about HIV or sexual health.”
Terrence
Higgins Trust provides support, information and advice services for those
living with HIV and affected by HIV or poor sexual health. We provide sexual
health advise and referrals to sexual health services including testing along
with a range of support services for those living with or affected by HIV . We
are based at 2nd Floor, Unit 53, The Design Works, Park Parade,
London, NW10 4HT
