A Collection of Web Hits For A Cloudy Tuesday

Holyrood PR Blog

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THIS TOWN, IS NOTHING BUT A GHOST TOWN (Scott)

How eerie would it be to visit this new city, planned to be built in the desert of New Mexico? It will have thousands of houses, office blocks, shopping malls (all with flushing toilets) and in an normal way would be home to around 35,000 people. However, this new town, already known as CITE, will be totally deserted, so that scientists, inventors, planners and developers can carry out experiements (like self driving cars) in an urban enviornment, without any people. Weird.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1838036/how-a-new-mexico-ghost-town-will-produce-tomorrows-biggest-innovations?partner=weekly_10

ANTI SHOPPING PILLS (Victoria)

I love a shop, and will happily admit that I may have a slight problem, buying things that I neither need nor can afford… ​
Many people will admit to being compulsive shoppers – a phrase coined to describe those who have a senseless occupation with shopping and spending.
Apparently scientists have tested an Alzheimers medicine called Memantine on shopaholics and found that those tested reduced the amount of time shopping and the amount of money spent.
Where do I sign up?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2151381/Alzheimers-medication-used-kick-habit.html

WHAT YA’LL SAYING?! (Sarah)

As someone whose job hinges on being able to string together a sentence (I do not claim to always do it with the highest level of proficiency) I would like to think that I am at least able to write consistently in English. However, based on the results of recent survey of 74,000 short stories, British youths are increasingly writing in what would be termed ‘American English’. According to the study by Oxford University Press, which looked at the entries to BBC Radio 2’s ‘500 words’ competition, pupils between the age of 7 and 13 litter their writing with Americanisms, unnecessary exclamations, references to celebrities and are let down by basic spelling, grammar and punctuation. Although I feel a large part of the problem with the technicalities of language stem for technology which auto-corrects misspelt words, incorrect grammar and punctuation, the actual words used can be traced directly back to Hollywood. Reading through some of the example given by the Daily Mail article make me think that perhaps I too have been spending a tad too long in front of my favourite American TV shows….

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151400/Unstoppable-rise-American-English-Study-shows-young-Britons-copying-US-writing-style.html​

MAGIC, GANGS AND WRESTLERS (Aimee)

In the heart of Democratic Republic of Congo lies a passionate world of wrestling which allows fans to temporarily forget the poverty, violence and ongoing civil war.
Sounds all good but allegations that many fighters are involved in gang violence and political intimidation lie underneath the intial positive images of pure entertainment.
Some wrestlers are major forces in gangs called ‘Kuluna’ that are terrorising the city and it was fascinating to watch a wrestler known as Zombi defend the Kaluna by saying they’re not criminals despite saying they carry machetes! Mental!
A fascinating and insightful look into a tradition which is relatively unknown.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/4od#3341158

EURO 2012 IS A PR DISASTER (Lewis)

With the European Championships just weeks away, all attention should be turned towards the world class skill that will be on show and the passion for playing for your country. However, this year’s event has been over-shadowed with the racism and riots that are taking place in Ukraine. With the BBC producing a Panorama documentary last night, fans are being told ‘not’ to attend the Euros or risk attacks and those of black origin have been told to stay completely for fear of racism.

Players and party leaders have been complaining about how this prestigious championship should never have been handed to a country, or in this case joint countries with Poland and Ukraine, with should anarchy happening. So, how do you put a spin on the bad PR this country has been receiving and will this event be ruined by thugs and racists. Could this be the worst tournament to date?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/28/euro-2012-ukraine-sol-campbell?newsfeed=true ​