Welcome to the Apple Store - Apple Store (U.K.) Shelter Cymru on rise in help calls from middle-class 11 May 2011Last updated at 09:08 More professionals fear having their homes repossessed, according to the Shelter Cymru A homelessness charity says it has seen an increase in queries in Wales from professional middle-class people. Shelter Cymru says its this is as a result of mortgage repossession cases which have "increased dramatically". A spokesman said they are dealing with many calls from employed professionals struggling to keep homes. Figures compiled by the charity show the percentage of queries regarding mortgage repossession has risen from 10% in 2006/07 to 23% in 2010/11. The percentage of clients that are in employment has risen to 24% in the past year. Shelter's Ceri Dunstan said: "Our advisors have noticed that more people from this group have been coming to us in the last couple of years. Continue reading the main story David and Margaret's story The couple had more than £2,000 in mortgage arrears after David was made redundant from his IT job. SOURCE: Shelter Cymru 'Huge strains'
New York City Unveils Real-Time 311 Request Map New York City has launched a new map to track citizens’ complaints and requests in real time as they’re entered through the city’s 311 service request program. The New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications says that in addition to promoting transparency, the map has the potential to be an important tool for intelligence gathering. “Up until yesterday we looked at 311 as a method that disgruntled citizens would use to call us; we didn’t look at it as an opportunity for solutions,” New York City’s Deputy Mayor of Operations Stephen Goldsmith said Wednesday,Feb. 16. The 311 Service Request map provides the public with access to location-specific information about city complaints filed across 15 major categories, including air and water quality, construction, noise, animals, snow, streets and sidewalks, and transit and parking.
Politics In Spires Schools Archives - Politics in Spires The divide between subjects taught in the school classroom and university-level research is often exaggerated. Someone between 16-18 would be familiar with many themes addressed by Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR). Still, some content, and especially research methods, would be completely new. Articles published in this series are part of a pilot scheme to bridge this divide. The conversation pointed to many similarities. These discussions were wide ranging and in response to an introduction to diverse research themes, the 6th form students raised a number of questions: Why do international powers intervene in certain situations and not in others? The posts in this series, written by academics and postgraduates, attempt to answer some of these questions, and highlight features of current research in these areas. Politics In Spires Schools posts: Stuart White: ‘Towards a citizens’ inheritance?”
'Long-term harm' of too much TV for toddlers The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10, researchers warn. The study of 1,300 children by Michigan and Montreal universities found negative effects on older children rose with every hour of toddler TV. Performance at school was worse, while consumption of junk foods was higher. UK experts said parents could allow young children to watch "some" high quality TV. The study, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development Main Exposure, asked parents how much TV their children watched at 29 months (two years and five months) and 53 months (four years and five months). On average, the two-year-olds watched just under nine hours of TV per week, while for four-year-olds the average was just under 15 hours. But 11% of the two-year-olds and 23% of four-year-olds watched more than the recommended maximum of two hours of TV a day. 'Common sense' 'Radical'
OAP fury over pension reforms Pensioners, who will be exempt from pensions reform announced today, have attacked the planned changes as a "work shirker's charter." Internet message boards hummed with fury over the reforms, which will see a flat rate pension of £140 a week introduced. Currently, at 65 you're entitled to a basic pension of £96.65 a week. On top of this is the means-tested element for lower earners - known as pension credit- which boosts pensions up to £132.60 a week for a single person and £202.40 for couples. But the reforms to introduce a flat-rate pension will not apply to current pensioners. The big drawback Pensions ace Ros Altmann, director general of Saga says: "None of today's pensioners will get less than now, but they will not receive the new benefits. One reader, who chose to remain anonymous, commented on Moneywise.co.uk: "What about people who have worked for the last 40 odd years paying 40% tax and maximum National Insurance payments?
Toppling The Stovepipes NEARLY 40 FEDERAL, state and local CIOs recently convened in Baltimore at NASIRE's annual meeting to establish common ground for intergovernmental cooperation and electronic government. Participating were 12 federal agencies, 20 states and representatives of three local governments and the National Association of Counties. Don Pearson, publisher of Government Technology magazine, moderated the roundtable and challenged participants to look at the goal of electronic government, the obstacles to meeting those goals and strategies that lead to action and accomplishment. A transcript of the procceding follows. Statements were edited for length. Don Pearson: What do we need to aim for with electronic government initiatives? Jim Flyzik: We're moving toward a customer-centric government. Aldona Valicenti: We as CIOs can enable the government through IT. Steve Jennings: What are the service metrics to the citizen? Pearson: Is there a mandate to do this?
YouTube's First Video Uploaded Five Years Ago Today Although YouTube's birthday is officially February 14, 2005, the first video was actually uploaded to the site exactly five years ago, on April 23, 2005. The video is titled "Me at the zoo." It was shot by Yakov Lapitsky and it's only 19 seconds long, showing one of YouTube's founders, Jawed Karim, at the San Diego Zoo. The video doesn't look like much, but it sparked a revolution; by July 2006, more than 65,000 videos were uploaded to the site every day. In October that same year Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion — a reminder of how fast things move in the age of the Internet. See the first ever YouTube video below.