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When you turn the steering wheel of a car, you expect that the wheels will respond and move the vehicle accordingly – it’s a basic function of a car. This has always been my experience in forty years of driving, until recently that is! I was driving round a roundabout, but as I turned left to exit, the steering jammed and I only just managed to wrestle the car round. The steering continued to be unbelievably stiff until I managed to bring the car to a safe stop. Incidentally, I managed to stop near a post box and I did have some letters to post, so at least it served a useful purpose! Having switched the engine off, locked the car, unlocked the car, and restarted it – the problem disappeared! Unfortunately, as I drove to my destination, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was thinking it was going to happen again any minute, such was my loss of confidence.

As soon as I had the opportunity I did what everyone does in situations like this – Google it! It soon became clear that it’s a common problem with the Meriva. I also quickly found several friends on Facebook and Twitter who’d had the same experience as me, and a YouTube clip from the BBC programme Watchdog where it was featured. So why did I have a Meriva with this problem? Why hadn’t Vauxhall recalled the unsafe vehicles? What was the Vauxhall dealer going to do about it?

Well, they repaired the car and told me they had fitted modified parts that don’t have the fault. This begs question, why no recall?

So, for me, the main issue is why hasn’t there been a recall when so many Merivas have this potentially dangerous fault? Imagine I was doing 50 mph on a left-hand bend with oncoming traffic when it happened? The Vauxhall garage was excellent, although they’re clearly well-versed in dealing with Meriva customers with the same problem!

It’s just been announced that Sir Henry Cooper has died. I’m not a lover of boxing, but he was a legend, known for a particularly effective left hook, and he floored Muhammed Ali – quite a feat!

A colleague and friend of mine has come up with a great idea! But, instead of me waffling on about it, I’ll let the video speak for itself! That reminds me, I better head over there and order some!

This guest post comes from Sue Thomas, Professor of New Media at De Montfort University in Leicester.

In today’s networked world, many skills which we may already have but not recognise as special are coming to the fore. The Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California, have identified a skill set which they call ‘amplified’. It features qualities such as ‘Cooperation Radar’  - the ability to sense, almost intuitively, who would make the best collaborators on a particular task, and ‘High Ping Quotient’ – responsiveness to other people’s requests for engagement; propensity to reach out to others in a network. You can read all ten of them here. The language may be very Californian, but the skills are ones we would all recognise. And social media is helping us to do them even better.

In 2009 I ran a project called ‘Amplified Leicester’ which brought together 30 very different Leicester people and helped them develop their ‘amplified skills’. That project is now over but this year we’ve been hosting a series of talks and panels at Phoenix Square where we look at ‘amplified’ approaches and discuss how they can be used in specific contexts. So far we’ve looked at politics, police, and crafts (see embedded video), and this month we’re considering faith (or not) in an panel discussion convened by George Ballentyne of the Council of Faiths and called Amplified Communities of Faith or Belief.

George’s guests are a very varied group – Sughra Ahmed of the Islamic Foundation, Richard Hopper of Leicester Secular Society, and Matthew Hughes of Samworth Enterprise Academy, a Church of England school. It takes place at 7.00 pm Wednesday 23 March 2011 at Phoenix Square. Do come along to hear what they have to say and join us in the Screen Lounge afterwards to continue the discussion. It’s free and open to all. Book online here and join the Amplified Leicester community here. We look forward to seeing you! The Twitter hashtag is #ampleic for all Amplified Leicester related tweets.

Note: In the video, David says “anti-feminist” at one point when he clearly means “anti-sexist”, he’s not being allowed to live it down! (John)

When John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was on BBC The One Show last evening and mentioned PiL, the presenters didn’t have a clue what he was talking about and clearly hadn’t done their homework! This video may enlighten them! A great song, amazing bass by Jah Wobble, and excellent lyrics!

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.
You never listen to word that I said
You only seen me
For the clothes that I wear
Or did the intrest go so much deeper
It must have been
The colour of my hair.

Public Image.

What you wanted was never made clear
Behind the image was ignorance and fear
You hide behind his public machine
Still follow the same old scheme.

Public Image.

Two sides to evrey story
Somebody had to stop me
I’m not the same as when I began
I will not be treated as property.

Public Image.

Two sides to evrey story
Somebody had to stop me
I’m not the same as when I began
It’s not a game of Monopoly.

Public Image.

Public Image you got what you wanted
The Public Image belongs to me
It’s my entrance
My own creation
My grand finale
My goodbye

Public Image.

Public Image.

Goodbye.

[strange growling/roaring noise at the end.]

One of the rivalries in F1 2011 is likely to be between Red Bull F1 team mates Sebastian Vettel (2010 World Champion) and Mark Webber. This is an exclusive video interview with Australian Mark Webber on 2011 F1 testing. Interestingly (as one of the comments points out) it’s telling that he didn’t mention Felipe Massa as a competitor!

You can find a previous post about F1 2011 here!

An interesting hashtag appeared on Twitter today! In case you don’t know what a hashtag is, it’s basically a label to group similar topics together with clickable links. I had to find out what the hashtag #whatstigma was all about, especially because it was trending (a popular topic) in the UK. It turned out to be a campaign to end mental health discrimination, and you can find more about it on their site. People on Twitter who have mental health issues have been encouraged to tell the world today, with the hashtag #whatstigma at the end of the status update.

The website says: With hundreds of organisations and tens of thousands of individuals, Time to Change has built a movement for change that is having a real impact. Organisations across all sectors of society are getting involved.  Check out our new slideshow to see the organisations involved and what they have been up to! Whether you’re part of an organisation, or an individual who feels passionate about ending mental health discrimination, you can get involved today by setting up a campaign in your area or ordering free materials to help you spread the word.

There should be no stigma for those with mental health issues, millions of people cope with them every day and live perfectly normal lives. So I’m happy to add my voice: Yeah, I’ve got issues! #whatstigma

See also: Death of a Friend on Facebook

You can find out more about this video here! For full effect make sure your sound is on!

On Saturday 22 January 2011 the Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre (Leicester) is hosting the first DocFilm Festival in the city. This is being organised by my friend John Coster and Citizens Eye. If you live in Leicester, maybe you can come along for all or part of the day. It runs from 11:30 to 23:30, and there is live music in the evening. Plans are already in hand for the DocFilm Festival in 2012 over 3 days!

I’m sure as you read this you have a concern for those suffering as a result of extreme weather events. You may even have been affected directly or indirectly. Climate change scientists tell us we must expect more of these events as a result of global warming. To help us understand what is going on at the moment, the Met Office have produced a very helpful video to explain the El Niño/La Niña weather oscillations which are natural cycles that have been with us for a long time.