The International Citizen

Hi everyone,

Quick announcement to make. I’m now blogging over at theinternationalcitizen.wordpress.org. This blog is about global development and international politics. I’m working with a group called Academics Stand Against Poverty to try and turn our discussions into political realities. If you’re at all interested in politics or just think we could all be doing a bit more to help out the global poor head over to The International Citizen at theinternationalcitizen.wordpress.com

2011 in review

Hi everyone,

Thanks very much for all the support this year! Thanks to everyone who visited, all who commented and all who contributed. Happy 2012!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

MW3 Sells 6.5 million copies in 24 hours

Originally written for http://www.redbrickonline.co.uk

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has sold 6.5 million copies in its first 24 hours of release outselling all estimates.

The latest instalment of the franchise has broken records across all entertainment platforms and has made $400 million.

The figures are from data from US and UK sales only but despite this it “the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium” according to Activision who publish the game.

For the last three years the company has held the record for day-one sales with the but this year Modern Warfare 3 made $40 million more than its predecessor Black Ops.

The release has cemented Call of Duty fans as some of the most avid in history. Compared to this year’s biggest movie release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Modern Warfare 3 made $220 million more on the first day. In the game world Battlefield 3 sold only 5 million copies in its first week according to PC Magazine.

Across the world 13,000 shops opened at midnight to sell the game and some people had been queuing for two and a half days. Far more it seems chose to pre-order the game. Modern Warfare 3 received a 32 per cent increase in pre-orders on Amazon and a GAME spokeswoman said it “beat records set by last year’s number one game, Call of Duty: Black Ops” concluding that it was GAME’s “largest pre-order title in the company’s history.”

This year’s instalment of Modern Warfare was released to critical acclaim. It has a score of 89 on Metacritic based on 51 reviews. The game feature the same persistent levelling system found throughout the franchise but this time it is improved. Even unaccomplished gamers can achieve something. Killstreaks are gone, replaced by Strike Packages which a can be customised for experts.

Love it or hate it the franchise is here to stay and is only going to get bigger. As Activion’s chief Bobby Kotick said “Call of Duty has become a major part of the pop cultural landscape” and with more players online than any other game in history it’s hard to argue with him.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Apple ‘genius’ Steve Jobs dies aged 56

Visionary inventor and co-founder of the technology giant Apple has died aged 56.

Steve Jobs had been suffering from pancreatic cancer since 2004 and stepped down as CEO of Apple in August 2011.

Jobs helped make personal computers commercially viable, saw the potential in the computer mouse, revolutionised the music industry through the iPod, and changed the computer market by creating the iPad. Jobs was also the creative force behind the iPhone which popularised smartphones worldwide.

US president Barak Obama has said ‘Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.’

In a statement Apple said they have ‘lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being’.

Bill Gates, the former boss of Microsoft who worked with Steve Jobs has said, ‘For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely.’

Jobs was a father of four and whilst staying being protective of his private life was never shy of the amount of power he held at Apple. Along with Apple he also was credited as the executive producer on Toy Story after becoming chief executive of Pixar.

New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has said ‘America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come’.

The University of Birmingham Rewards Students for Tweeting

The University of Birmingham has recently completed a project that welcomes new students through social media. The project, called Small Acts of Kindness, uses the University’s Twitter and Facebook accounts to build communication links with students. Throughout Welcome Week students who tweeted about the University were approached by presenters and filmed receiving gifts.

The project was the brainchild of the University’s Student Recruitment team. Throughout Welcome Week older students were hired as presenters and filmed searching for new students who had tweeted about the University. Selected students received either a £40 Amazon voucher or the equivalent to spend in Zest, which sells University of Birmingham branded clothing.  The presenters used student’s timetable information to catch new students in their lectures. After each day a short film was produced and released on the University’s Facebook and YouTube accounts. There are 5 films in total and each documents the University’s presenters giving students gifts for their tweets.

The project was largely well received. Sarah Fullwood, one of the presenters, said, “The people we spoke to were genuinely surprised and happy. We even got someone out of bed and she still couldn’t believe it!” Small Acts of Kindness was designed to use Twitter and Facebook to show that the University is “genuinely listening to students” added Fullwood, “we don’t want first years to feel that they’re on their own”. Social media was used because the University believes students are most familiar with it as a means of communication.

However some had reservations about the project. One person close to the project who did not want to be named said, “the social media wasn’t utilised well, I think more planning was needed”. The project was also hampered by a lack of activity on the University’s social media pages. Only around 22 students actively tweeted using the UoBWelcome hashtag. On Facebook the University’s pages are used by first years to find people who live in nearby accommodation or to advertise spare Fab tickets rather than communicate directly with the University.

Others expressed concern about how students would receive Small Acts of Kindness. Hannah Reeve a second year Political Science student said, “I think it ignores the people who aren’t having a good time. It encourages people to tweet just for the sake of getting free vouchers”. Other students were concerned about where the funding came from.  In total 20 gifts were given away, costing the University £800.

At the time of publication, Small Acts of Kindness has attracted over 2100 views on YouTube. Other figures also suggest that the University of Birmingham is successfully using social media. Birmingham has nearly 3000 more followers on Twitter than the University of Manchester and 3481 more than Nottingham. Some universities, like the University of Manchester, still don’t have dedicated Twitter feeds.

Although Small Acts of Kindness may have suffered some teething problems it does show the University is actively trying to promote itself in the digital domain. As fees rise students will expect the University to open up every possible means of communication to enhance their experience. Social media may come to play a key role in student feedback and stunts like this could be a good, if costly, way to promote this.

A Bit Thanks

Just want to say a big thanks to ecollegefinder.org for their Technology Blog Award. You can find a list of the other 49 blogs that featured in the awards at https://www.ecollegefinder.org/technology-award.aspx#32

Accredited Online Colleges

In other news my final year at university has started. I’m trying to put aside some time to blog but everything is up in the air at the moment. Stay posted.

Joshua