And I thought we were the odd ones out using Apples!!!?

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The Problem with Atheism

(This is an edited transcript of a talk given at the Atheist Alliance conference in Washington D.C. on September 28th, 2007)

To begin, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge just how strange it is that a meeting like this is even necessary. The year is 2007, and we have all taken time out of our busy lives, and many of us have traveled considerable distance, so that we can strategize about how best to live in a world in which most people believe in an imaginary God. America is now a nation of 300 million people, wielding more influence than any people in human history, and yet this influence is being steadily corrupted, and is surely waning, because 240 million of these people apparently believe that Jesus will return someday and orchestrate the end of the world with his magic powers.

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How ToBeat the Procrastination Habit
Chronic procrastinator J.D. Roth describes the techniques he uses to

stop putting off tasks. One of his weapons in the war against
procrastionation? A timer. Roth says:

Part of the reason I procrastinate is that I have a rich
mental life. This is just a flowery way of saying that I'm a
daydreamer. I'm always lost in thought. One way to keep on track is to
use a timer. I use the Ultrak Jumbo Countdown Timer,
but not as often as I should. I set it for 48 minutes. When it goes
off, it serves as an instant reality check: Am I doing what I'm
supposed to be doing?

As someone who also has a "rich mental life" AND a timer, I can attest that this does indeed work. What specific anti-procrastination strategies (besides "just do it now") do you have up your sleeve? Let us know in the comments.

Getting to Now: How to Beat the Procrastination Habit [Get Rich Slowly]

The Art of Productive Procrastination

It's when you're putting off doing that thing you're supposed to be doing that you can get the most other stuff done. Oh, I don't know, maybe you're supposed to be writing a book
but you're ripping your 500-disc CD collection to iTunes and organizing
your shoe rack instead. The LifeClever blog says this is a good thing,
especially for getting done mundane chores, and lists their favorite structured procrastination activities. What do you do when you can't stand to work on that dreaded, put-off task? Let us know in the comments.

How to procrastinate more productively [LifeClever]

cafe coffee drinks

Coffee Drinks Illustrated | Lokesh Dhakar

Espresso
Espresso
[ess-press-oh]
Espresso Macchiatio
Espresso Macchiato
[ess-press-oh mock-e-ah-toe]
Espresso Con Panna
Espresso con Panna
[ess-press-oh kon pawn-nah]
Caffe Latte diagram
Caffé Latte
[caf-ay lah-tey]
Flat White diagram
Flat White
Caffe Breve diagram
Cafe Breve
[caf-ay brev-ay]
Cappuccino diagram
Cappuccino
[kapp-oo-chee-noh]
Caffe Mocha diagram
Caffé Mocha
[caf-ay moh-kuh]
Americano diagram
Americano
[uh-mer-i-kan-oh]

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£5 Million Funding for Youth Projects

£5 Million Funding for Youth Projects — SNP - Scottish National Party

£5 Million Funding for Youth Projects

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Who are young peoples heroes today?

Poll: Young People's Heroes Are Parents | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

Poll: Young People's Heroes Are Parents




When it comes to those they most admire, young people do not look chiefly to the worlds of music, today's wars or history. Instead, they turn to their own families.

Asked to name their heroes, young Americans surveyed by The Associated Press and MTV make their parents the collective top pick. Twenty-nine percent choose their mothers, 21 percent name their fathers and 16 percent pick their parents without specifying which one. Allowed to choose as many heroes as they'd like, nearly half mention at least one of their folks.

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knife crime doubles in 2 years

Knife crime doubles in 2 years - Times Online

THE full extent of Britain’s violent crime epidemic, which yesterday claimed the life of another teenager, is revealed in shocking new figures that show the number of street robberies involving knives has more than doubled in two years.

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youth crimes dependency?

Cameron must tackle welfare dependency - Telegraph

It is at the heart of our endemic problem of youth crime which is now escalating into homicidal nihilism.

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Teenagers face basic skills tests

BBC NEWS | Education | Teenagers face basic skills tests

Teenagers face basic skills tests
computer room
CBI members were pleased with youngsters' computer skills
The August exam results season would not seem complete without a complaint about school leavers' skills from the employers' organisation the CBI.

But its central point - that many lack the sort of basic skills in communication and numeracy to function effectively in the workplace - is acknowledged by the Westminster government.

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Lancets Adolescent Health series of papers

Press Office The Lancet launches Adolescent Health Series

The Lancet launches Adolescent Health Series

Today’s generation of adolescents is the largest in history—nearly half of the world’s population is less than 25 years old and they face far more complex challenges to their health and development than their parents did. Many young people today are living with HIV/AIDS or depression, the leading causes of disease burden for adolescents worldwide. And hazardous alcohol use now accounts for 86% of the 8·6 million substance related deaths of 15–29 year olds globally.

In the series, The Lancet aims to highlight an area of health that remains neglected, marginalised, and ignored in many countries. Adolescence is a time in life that harbours many risks and dangers, but also one that presents great opportunities for sustained health through education and preventive efforts. Currently many countries fail to put sufficient emphasis on the special needs of adolescents, they are either treated the same as children or have to share facilities with older adults. The series calls for a concerted effort to create youth-friendly services worldwide, while putting young people at the heart of the policy-making to ensure their access to youth-friendly health services.

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Young people don't read the news

Hold the front page! Young people don't read the news from Greenslade

Hold the front page! Young people don't read the news

Research in the United States claims to have discovered the astounding news that the country's teenagers and young adults don't read the news. The tone of the New York Times article which reveals the study's findings appears to be surprised at this phenomenon. Why?

Surely this has always been the case. The British experience of newspaper-buying habits in past generations suggested that young people grew into news consumption as they matured. Though their interest in news was patchy in teenage and early adult years, they tended to buy papers regularly once they married and set up home.

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"Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ."

Viewing class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

by danah boyd
June 24, 2007

Citation: boyd, danah. 2007. Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 .

Over the last six months, I've noticed an increasing number of press articles about how high school teens are leaving MySpace for Facebook. That's only partially true. There is indeed a change taking place, but it's not a shift so much as a fragmentation. Until recently, American teenagers were flocking to MySpace. The picture is now being blurred. Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens are flocking to Facebook. Who goes where gets kinda sticky... probably because it seems to primarily have to do with socio-economic class.

I want to take a moment to make a meta point here. I have been traipsing through the country talking to teens and I've been seeing this transition for the past 6-9 months but I'm having a hard time putting into words. Americans aren't so good at talking about class and I'm definitely feeling that discomfort. It's sticky, it's uncomfortable, and to top it off, we don't have the language for marking class in a meaningful way. So this piece is intentionally descriptive, but in being so, it's also hugely problematic. I don't have the language to get at what I want to say, but I decided it needed to be said anyhow. I wish I could just put numbers in front of it all and be done with it, but instead, I'm going to face the stickiness and see if I can get my thoughts across. Hopefully it works.

For the academics reading this, I want to highlight that this is not an academic article. It is not trying to be. It is based on my observations in the field, but I'm not trying to situate or theorize what is going on. I've chosen terms meant to convey impressions, but I know that they are not precise uses of these terms. Hopefully, one day, I can get the words together to actually write an academic article about this topic, but I felt as though this is too important of an issue to sit on while I find the words. So I wrote it knowing that it would piss many off. The academic side of me feels extremely guilty about this; the activist side of me finds it too critical to go unacknowledged.

Enter the competition

When MySpace launched in 2003, it was primarily used by 20/30-somethings (just like Friendster before it). The bands began populating the site by early 2004 and throughout 2004, the average age slowly declined. It wasn't until late 2004 that teens really started appearing en masse on MySpace and 2005 was the year that MySpace became the "in thing" for teens.

Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only site. It slowly expanded to welcome people with .edu accounts from a variety of different universities. In mid-2005, Facebook opened its doors to high school students, but it wasn't that easy to get an account because you needed to be invited. As a result, those who were in college tended to invite those high school students that they liked. Facebook was strongly framed as the "cool" thing that college students did. So, if you want to go to college (and particularly a top college), you wanted to get on Facebook badly. Even before high school networks were possible, the moment seniors were accepted to a college, they started hounding the college sysadmins for their .edu account. The message was clear: college was about Facebook.

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Youth Work pay increase called for...

Young People Now

Pay and conditions: Youth work unions call for significant pay rise
By Tom Lloyd - 17/07/07


The body representing youth workers in pay negotiations has called for a “substantial” rise in salaries.
The staff side of the Joint Negotiating Committee believes a sharp increase is needed as recognition of the importance of youth work grows, and the profession moves towards graduate status in 2010.
Doug Nicholls, general secretary of the Community and Youth Workers’ Union, and secretary for the staff side, said: “Anything less than six per cent is a cut in real terms, and to move to graduate level requires a major jump.”
The staff side of the committee outlines its case in a pay claim submitted to the employers’ side last week. It states the starting salary of £18,807 compares poorly with average graduate starting salaries, which are estimated at £21,445 to £27,500.
It also calls for improvements in London living allowances,
the introduction of a month
of maternity support leave, as well as an increase in paid maternity leave.
Les Lawrence, chair of the

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Who is taking the Christian out of Charity?

YFC in scotland loses out on youth charity funding... because its a christian chairty??

The Herald : Features: LETTERS

LETTERS - Our Christian charity should not be excluded

It was very interesting to read your article in relation to Gordon Brown's new book Britain's Everyday Heroes, highlighting the valuable role of volunteers across all sections of society. There is a strong history of volunteering in Scotland - most of which, by its very nature, is unseen and unrewarded. The Church and Christian charities in Scotland still provide for the majority of voluntary youth and children's work.

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Raised education leaving age... and criminalising Young People?

Forced education will cause 'mass truancy' - Telegraph

Forced education will cause 'mass truancy'

By Graeme Paton, Education Correspondent 31/07/2007



Forcing teenagers to stay in education until 18 will cause "mass truancy" and criminalise thousands of young people, a teachers' leader has warned.

The education leaving age will be raised
Truants could face fines and a criminal record

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's plan to raise the leaving age for the first time in 35 years will "prolong the agony" of school for many teenagers already bored by the classroom, said Geraldine Everett, chairman of the Professional Association of Teachers....

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