Reading Roars!

The Reading FC ‘Dream Team’ spanked Hull City 3-1 in The Championship to move within one point of Sheffield United, who top the table with 45 points.

Reading’s goals were scored by Bobby Convey, Kevin Doyle and Glen Little.

The Madejski result means that the Royals are now 21 games unbeaten.

Click here to read a report by blogger John McGarvey, who attended the game.

There are an amazing 94 Wi-Fi hotspots in Reading, according to Total Hotspots. The technology allows users within reach of an access point i.e. within a ‘hotspot’ to surf the net wirelessly.

Places in the town offering wireless connectivity include popular establishments such as Old Orleans, Bar 38 and Yates’s, the major coffee chains and even traditional-style pubs such as The Restoration and The Hop Leaf.

Operators providing Wi-Fi in Reading are stated as BT Openzone, Boingo, O2, T-Mobile UK, Trustive and The Cloud.

Before you rush to Starbucks with your laptop, however, bear in mind that Wi-Fi access, at more than a fiver per hour, isn’t cheap. Add your bucked-sized mint mocha frappuccino to that and you’re looking at 60 minutes of surf time for just under a tenner. Ouch.

Imagine standing in the middle of Reading’s new metro station, the latest exciting addition to the town’s extensive underground system, and seeing walkways, a bar serving Vietnamese snacks and people sipping mango macchiatos at coffee shop Star Nero. Earlier it had been a futuristic concept on paper. Now the concept is brought to life around you.

Imagine zooming into a new business park and seeing your sharp glass-and-steel edifices pierce the skyline. A transport interchange lies beneath, perhaps connecting to the aforementioned metro station.

Or you could be visualising the arterial system of a gnat. Or travelling through the neutral network of a pigeon (to understand better why they fly into people).

The Cave, or the Reading Visualization Centre as it is properly called, allows you to do all this.

Based at the University of Reading’s School of Systems Engineering, the Cave is a new tool that offers a realistic virtual environment. Inside, 3D graphics are projected on the floor and three walls. The virtual reality can be seen through a pair of active stereo glasses worn by the user. As the user walks through the Cave, the sensor adapts the graphics to their movements, producing real-time changes.

The Cave’s business potential is clear. Product manufacturers, for example, may visualise new POS material on store shelves and see how consumers interact with the displays. Architects can see their complex plans in 3D and collaborate with stakeholders based remotely.

Keen to plunge into the Cave? For further information, contact Business Information Officer Kirsti Wilson. Or download the attachment below on innovation and enterprise at the University of Reading. Please note that this is a PDF file and Adobe Reader is required to open it.

[591Kb]

Southampton St has the best and worst pubs in Reading, according to the website Reading Pubs.

The league table on the site reveals that the leading pubs in town are The Hobgoblin on Broad St and Southampton St’s The Hop Leaf. Both have a current “final score” of 8.5 out of 10. Seven pubs tied for second place.

Gun St boasts two high-ranking pubs: the Purple Turtle (7.5) and Sahara Bar (7.5).

The Reading pub with the worst score is The Pheasant on Southampton St, with a plucking terrible score of 1.0. Brannigans also got a bashing, with a 2.0 score.

Reading Pubs reviewed 117 pubs in total.

Click here to see the league table.

Readers of travel magazine Wanderlust recently updated the 7 Wonders of the World, pushing Machu Picchu ahead of the Pyramids. But what were the 7 Wonders of Reading, I wondered?

And so, in no particular order, I present to you my list of our 7 local Wonders:

1. Madejski Stadium
2. Thames Valley Park
3. The Oracle at night
4. Caversham Park
5. Town Hall
6. Forbury Square
7. University of Reading campus

Does anyone agree with the above? What are your 7 Wonders? Please comment!

Dr Azahari Bin Husin, suspected leader of militants Jemaah Islamiah, and former University of Reading student, has been confirmed dead after blowing himself up to avoid capture by an elite Indonesian police unit.

The Malaysia-born terrorist, linked to the Bali attacks of 2002 and October 2005, had studied for a doctorate at the university’s Department of Land Management during the 1980s.

Click here to read the 4 October 2005 article SE Asia’s most wanted man: a former Reading Uni student.

Young people in Reading aged 11-18 years are invited to make their voices heard by standing as candidates for the Reading Youth Cabinet.

Elections for the 12-seat Cabinet will take place between Monday 28 November and Friday 9 November at polling stations in schools and youth clubs.

The elected Youth Cabinet Members will become the Executive of the Reading Borough Council/Connexions-backed Reading Youth Forum, which aims to represent kids in Reading. Members will meet monthly and meet with local decision-makers.

Pete Ruhemann, lead councillor for Children’s and Young People’s Services, has this to say:

The Council, the police, the local NHS and so on need to hear what young people think because young people are important in their own right and are of course Reading’s future.

(Unless, of course, they move to a different town.)

So come on, budding Blairs! Here is your chance to make an impact! If you want to know more, give Kevin Terry a ring on 0118 939 0749. Or e-mail ryf@reading.gov.uk.