Vinyl record sales hit 18-year high

More than one million vinyl records have been sold in the UK so far this year - the first time the milestone has been achieved since 1996. The figures mark a largely unexpected resurgence in an industry now considered to be dominated by digital. Earlier this month, Pink Floyd's The Endless River became the fastest-selling vinyl release since 1997. The Official Chart Company told the BBC it will soon launch a weekly vinyl chart. "In an era when we're all talking about digital music, the fact that these beautiful physical artefacts are still as popular as they are is fantastic," said Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Wake Up To Money, he said: "It's really remarkable. We're seeing it come back as a significant earner for the music industry as well. "Only five years ago this business was worth around £3m a year. This year it's going to be worth £20m."READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30216638

NEW HANGOVER CURE?

Scientists have developed the ultimate hangover cure - a drug that reduces the harmful effects of binge-drinking on the brain.

The same drug may open the door to new treatments for Alzheimer's and other brain diseases, researchers believe.

Tested on rats experiencing the equivalent of a human binge-drinking bender, it curbed brain cell loss and inflammation and improved their memory.

Evidence suggests that binge-drinking may have long-term effects on memory, decision-making and the ability to pay attention. Teenagers are especially at risk because their young brains are still developing.

The new drug, named ethane-beta-sultam, was developed over 10 years by British, Belgian and Italian scientists.

Binge-drinking is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks one after the other over a four to six-hour period.

Rats taking part in the study were given doses of alcohol designed to simulate binge-drinking in a human.

Their memory was tested by seeing how well they could find a hidden platform in a water maze.

Animals treated with ethane-beta-sultam were able to navigate the maze as well as those not fed alcohol.

"One of things that alcohol does is to destroy some of the brain cells which are important for navigation and orientation. But a combination of alcohol and our compound could overcome this damage," Professor Mike Page, from the University of Huddersfield, said.

Future work may turn up a compound that performs even better than ethane-beta-sultam, Prof Page said.

In the longer term, such compounds may help in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's that also involve inflammation and the loss of brain cells.

Prof Page acknowledged that protecting against the harmful effects of binge-drinking on the brain might be controversial, but said if it's accepted that alcohol abuse is going to continue, then it might be sensible for society to try and treat it in some way.

RHINO GOES FOR A WALK

Police had to tick off circus workers in Luckenwalde,Germany.This was due to taking a 2.5 tonne  Rhino for a walk without a lead.

JUST N YOUR SAY NO TO FLYTIPPING IN YOUR AREA

I m not a busybody but noticed lately around northam items being left around outside form a sofa,tv to general rubbish.This is a shame as  northam has a growing community base also were i do some work at westho is the same but thats mostly dog mess it only impt long before it looks like a gettoroves if you make a stand if not a noone wil care and we become the people

we hate.

SMOKING ADVERTS BACK ON TV VERY UNCOOL.

I saw the other day adverts trying to make smoking look cool again. One advert for a e-cig was at 2.00pm in the afternoon which i thought was not allowed?.When will people start  believing any smoking can lead to early death or lung damage and  just very uncool.

VANDAL DEFACES COLOSSEUM

Why do people think it is cool to do criminal damage to ancient buildings .In this case a 10 in by 7 in letter k on the 2,000 year old colosseum,rome,italy.The person responsible is refusing to pay the fine issued for this act. T HIS IS THE FIFTH tourist prosecuted so far this year as is known the amphitheatre was used for gladiatorial battles.

FACEBOOK POLICY

Facebook Hi Ghostman, We wanted to let you know we're updating our terms and policies on January 1, 2015 and introducing Privacy Basics. You can check out the details below or on Facebook. Over the past year, we’ve introduced new features and controls to help you get more out of Facebook, and listened to people who have asked us to better explain how we get and use information. Now, with Privacy Basics, you'll get tips and a how-to guide for taking charge of your experience on Facebook. We're also updating our terms, data policy and cookies policy to reflect new features we've been working on and to make them easy to understand. And we're continuing to improve ads based on the apps and sites you use off Facebook and expanding your control over the ads you see. We hope these updates improve your experience. Protecting people's information and providing meaningful privacy controls are at the core of everything we do, and we believe today's announcement is an important step. Sincerely, Erin Egan Global Chief Privacy Officer Updating Our Terms and Policies: Helping You Understand How Facebook Works and How to Control Your Information Privacy Basics Privacy Basics offers interactive guides to answer the most commonly asked questions about how you can control your information on Facebook. For example, you can learn about untagging, unfriending, blocking, and how to choose an audience for each of your posts. This information is available in 36 languages. Along with our privacy checkup, reminder for people posting publicly and simplified audience selectors, Privacy Basics is the latest step we've taken to help you make sure you're sharing with the people you want. Helping you get more out of Facebook Every day, people use our apps and services to connect with the people, places and things they care about. The updates to our policies reflect the new products we've been working on to improve your Facebook experience. They also explain how our services work in a way that's easier to understand. Here are some highlights: Discover what's going on around you: We’re updating our policies to explain how we get location information depending on the features you decide to use. Millions of people check into their favorite places and use optional features like Nearby Friends (currently only available in some regions). We're working on ways to show you the most relevant information based on where you are and what your friends are up to. For example, in the future, if you decide to share where you are, you might see menus from restaurants nearby or updates from friends in the area. Make purchases more convenient: In some regions, we're testing a Buy button that helps people discover and purchase products without leaving Facebook. We're also working on new ways to make transactions even more convenient. Find information about privacy on Facebook at the moment you need it: To make them more accessible, we moved tips and suggestions to Privacy Basics. Our data policy is shorter and clearer, making it easier to read. Understand how we use the information we receive: For example, we use device information to optimize your mobile experience, like understanding battery and signal strength to help us make sure our apps work well for you. We ask for permission to use your phone's location when we offer optional features like check-ins or adding your location to posts. Get to know how the family of Facebook companies and apps work together: Over the past few years, Facebook has grown and we want to make sure you know about our family of companies, apps and services. We use the information we collect to improve your experience. For example, if you're locked out of your Instagram account, you can use your Facebook information to recover your password. Nothing in our updates changes the commitments that Instagram, WhatsApp and other companies have made to protect your information and your privacy. Your information and advertising: People sometimes ask how their information is shared with advertisers. Nothing is changing with these updates—we help advertisers reach people with relevant ads without telling them who you are. Learn more about ads and how you can control the ads you see. Keep in mind that your settings on Facebook are not changing, and that some features are only available in certain regions. For example, tag suggestions are only available outside of Canada and the EU. Giving you more control over ads We've heard from some of you that it can be difficult to control the types of ads you see if you use multiple devices and browsers. In the past, if you opted out of certain kinds of advertising on your laptop, that choice may not have been applied for ads on your phone. We know that many people use more than one phone, tablet or browser to access Facebook, so it should be easy for you to make a single choice that applies across all of your devices. That's why Facebook respects the choices you make about the ads you see, across every device. You can opt out of seeing ads on Facebook based on the apps and sites you use through the Digital Advertising Alliance. You can also opt out using controls on iOS and Android. When you tell us you don't want to see these types of ads, your decision automatically applies to every device you use to access Facebook. Also, we're now making ad preferences available in additional countries, beginning with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK. These updates take effect on January 1, 2015. As always, we welcome your feedback about our policies.