Reading Roars!

Fancy participating in a scientific study for cash?  Jan Luff at the University of Reading is looking for healthy volunteers to help “evaluate the effects of different breakfast cereals on beneficial faecal bacteria”.  Here’s the digest:

It has long been known that the bacteria in the human gut can infuluence health; in particular eating fermented foods such as yoghurt can be beneficial. One of the problems with this approach is that the beneficial components of food must survive most of the digestive processes of the gut and reach the large intestine intact.

We would like to determine the effect of whole grain breakfast cereals on human gut bacteria, and to evaluate the diversity of the microbial community and any changes in major bacterial groups. We will also measure the metabolic and immunological consequences of changing our gut bacteria in this way using a range of high resolution analytical techniques.

If you’re interested in finding out more about this study, call Jan Luff on 0118 378 7771.

I was wondering… are there any readers of this blog who own or manage a small business?  Or who are interested in Microsoft products/technologies?

The reason I ask is because a Microsoft blog was launched recently with information specifically for small businesses, located at the following address: http://blogs.technet.com/smallbusiness.  Now, I’d rather not blog about irrelevant subjects on Reading Roars! i.e. anything unrelated to Reading, so I do feel I’ve broken a big rule here (unless you consider the fact that MS are located just outside of Reading).  However, I’m quite excited about the MS blog and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions for improvement/content.

The blog will feature submissions from a number of people at the company (not just myself!), covering technology topics such as online marketing and advertising, hardware and software.  And I shall speak of it no longer.

CCTV camera-crowded Reading is to develop talking cameras to tell off naughty troublemakers in the town centre. The cameras will, according to the Evening Post, use rap lyrics recorded by schoolkids and CCTV voyeurs will also be able to address miscreants directly.

A great idea, in my opinion, but rapping children may be too soft an approach. Will “Don’t be dim, put that litter in the bin!” work? Or “We’re watching you, you silly moo!”? Let’s act tough on offenders. Instead of big brotherly love, how about “You have 20 seconds to comply”, for example, or “Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?”. Well, they worked in the movies.

I’m not entirely in favour of an extension of the nanny state, but let’s not get too cuddly.

Numerous media commentators have recently said that London is the new capital of the world, replacing New York. Now that may or may not be true. Certainly the UN, whose headquarters are based in the Big Apple, isn’t what it used to be, and London is said to be the centre of the financial and business world. However, public transport in the capital is still shockingly bad, prices are ridiculously high and its pubs still close early.

Anyway, world capital status is an opinion, after all, and I doubt that many people will care all that much anyway, apart from proud New Yorkers (and possibly Parisians).

Now, n miles west of London is a prosperous town we all know and love: Reading. If our humongous neighbour to our right is now capital of the world, indeed “coolest city on earth” as James Harding today put it in The Times, what does that make little Reading? Surely there must be repurcussions of some sort?

Reading has unquestionably become more cosmopolitan in recent years, with a more diversified population, and cosmopolitanism is cool. The London effect can be seen on the high street, too, with the arrival of Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Wagamama (still no Borders, however), and there are bigger businesses in the town, spread around the M4 umbilical cord. But overall I would say that while there has been a rippling effect, London still feels very different (where is our street theatre, or our sushi bar with conveyor belt?).

London seems more, I’d argue, like a city state, unlike anywhere else in the UK, with its arms crossed.

In my opinion, while Reading should benefit from London’s economic success, the town must not lead a parasitic existence. We have a great opportunity to forge our own identity - as a regional capital. Reading must assert itself as capital of the Thames Valley and capital of the South East (London aside). Let’s have a flourishing arts scene, another world-class music festival, a WiFi network that we can use for free all over the town centre. Let’s use our rivers more.

We can make Reading cool too.

Another quality blog with a Reading connection is the well-designed Dayorama, launched way back in 2002 (a long time in internet years!).

Dayorama is a site made up of contributions from four talented individuals.

Journalist Ollie Williams is a member of BBC Radio Berkshire’s online team and has recently been blogging about Reading Rockets, the local basketball force.

Working alongside Ollie is Reading-born broadcaster David Sheppard, the last of the blogging Fab Four to join Dayorama. The other two contributors are trainee lawyer Amy and OJ, who works for an MP.

Like Scaryduck, Dayorama offers that little bit extra: a t-shirt shop with tops for boys and girls (guys, you can have your hamster back tomorrow, ok?).

I was pleasantly surprised to see Reading Roars! mentioned in a BBC - Berkshire feature about blogging. The focus of the article was, however, on another local blog I hadn’t come across before, the award-winning and absolutely quackers Scaryduck, maintained by Alistair Coleman.

Scaryduck is eccentric British humour at its best (up there with Monty Python and The League of Gentlemen), offering bizarre observations, podcasts and a downloadable game called “Scaryduck done a poo” (a game that involves unloading avian faecal matter for points - my highest score was 275).

There are many others, of course, but the following are the best of the bunch, in my opinion:

Business

• Steve Clayon: Geek in Disguise - Steve is a Microsoft man. Great if you want to know what’s happening in the technology world
• Drew B’s take on tech PR - A blog about blogs. if you want to know about the wacky world of web 2.0 and social media, start here

Sport

• http://royal4ever.livejournal.com/ - Stacey Cross shows tremendous passion for Reading FC

Media

• Reading Chronicle Blog - Behind the scenes at the local newspaper

Politics

• Janestheone - a candid blog from the former Reading politician

Other

• NEVERHAPPY.com - All about the nation’s favourite subject, property

The University of Reading’s website has been revamped - and it doesn’t look bad at all.

The site has adopted a cleaner, simpler and brighter look and feel. The site’s sections - Life at Reading, Study at Reading, Research at Reading (note at Reading - I like it) and more - are colour-coded, for example, and the homepage displays broad, colourful banners featuring images of university life and highlighting several of the institution’s top strengths - refresh your browser to see them all.

Easier to navigate and easier going on the eye, the new site is a triumph.