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While the great and the good of gaming were slipping on rented tuxedos and clipping on bowties last Friday for the BAFTAs, something great and good was happening in Oxfordshire - with a speaker even the Academy would struggle to get on its guestlist.

After strutting around the White House and living it up on Air Force One with Barack Obama, David Cameron's first public speech back on UK soil took place in the somewhat less presidential surroundings of the Blue Boar pub, Witney.

By now I'd like to think you will have heard about Special Effect, the amazing charity whose mission is to help people with disabilities to play and enjoy video games through accessible technology. I'm a vice president, and it's an enormous privilege to help get the message out about the life-changing work the team does.

That's what's special about Special Effect. It's not one product you're rolling out for everybody to use, it's a huge amount of individual effort to create that magic moment."

David Cameron, PM

British Prime Minister he way be, but to the people of West Oxfordshire, where Special Effect is based, he also happens to be their local MP. On Friday he heard all about an incredible little girl called Charlotte Nott - and watched this video.

When Charlotte was three she contracted meningitis, which resulted in her losing all four limbs. But that's not enough to stop her gaming, as that short clip so powerfully demonstrates.

Moreover, it highlights in a little over a minute the importance of Special Effect's work and stresses the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all solution - every disability is different, and every person the charity works with receives technical assistance tailored specifically to their unique needs.

The results, though, are always the same: joy, and the liberation of being able to enjoy something alongside everyone else - crucially, on a level-playing field.

It doesn't hurt to have the Prime Minister as your local MP. But, whatever you think about his politics, Cameron has taken a keen interest in Special Effect because he knows all too well the difference its work can make.

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From PM to Players: The Word Is Out On Accessible Gaming

UPDATE 1:30 P.M. TUESDAY MARCH 20: Still no word from Clear Channel on how/if Jordan will be replaced on the KISS107 morning show in the next 10 days.

It turns out that the Orlando station announced two weeks ago that Jordan (akaJohn Descoci) will start in Floridaon April 1.

When I asked Clear Channel folks here for Jordans last day on the air, so listeners could tune in and wish him well, they have refused to say. Says the email from Justin Tabas, Clear Channel director of integrated marketing: Thank you John, we will contact you when we have complete information thank you.

Why the mystery? Certainly Jordan set his final day weeks ago!

ORIGINAL POST 4:15 P.M. MONDAY, MARCH 19: Are Jordan and Joey breaking up? Apparently so!

KISS 107 morning co-host Jordan has been hired away by Orlando sister Clear Channel station WXXL-FM (XL 106.7).

Jordan will do afternoon drive in Orlando, as well as be the program director. (Hes the PD now at KISS 107 (aka WKFS-FM). He starts April 1 which means he has less than two weeks (if that much) on the air here.

We can talk about who should replace Jordan and anything else, of course during my weekly online chat Tuesday noon.

No word yet fromKISS107/Clear Channel aboutwho will be doing mornings(someone else with Joey?) next month. In a statement to the trade press, Jordan says:

After 9 years at KISS 107, I told myself it would take an amazing opportunity to pull me away from Cincinnati, and that opportunity has presented itself. I couldnt be more excited to be joining one of the truly iconic Top 40 stations in the country in XL 1067! I cant wait to begin working with team XL, as well as the amazing group of professionals already in place at CC-Orlando.I cant begin to thank Scott Reinhart, Chuck Fredrick, Brad Hardin, our staff at KISS 107 as well as the rest of the CC-Cincinnati team enough for the years of experience Ive gained working alongside them, both in Cincinnati as well as inside the company. Ill miss everyone greatly, and look back on my time there fondly.

Read the rest here:
No word on Jordan’s KISS107 replacement

Despite the cast being pulled in a myriad of directions ("The Pauly D Project" and "Snooki and JWOWW vs. the World," to name two spin-off shows), apparently all of the cast members have time for the OG -- that's "Original Guido" -- "Jersey Shore."

It was announced yesterday that production for the sixth season of the show is set to begin this summer in Seaside Heights, N.J.

"America's favorite housemates will all return to their home-away-from-home, and the house dynamic is headed into unchartered territory ... as their lives outside the 'Shore' take off in exciting new directions," MTV said in a press release. "While things will definitely be a little different this time when they hit the boardwalk, their trademark hilarity and family dysfunction will remain the same."

A sixth season? Talk about beating a dead meatball, MTV. But I'm sure they'll still get the audience, if only rubberneckers who are tuning in to see what kind of maternity swimsuit the knocked-up Snooki is going to wear.

A little more than a month since her mom, Whitney Houston, passed away, Bobbi Kristina Brown is reportedly engaged to Nick Gordon, the man raised as a son by Houston, according to People magazine. "Yes, they are engaged, but the family is trying to coax her away from it," a source says, while a second source confirms that "Nick asked Krissi about a week ago to marry him." Brown has been spotted sporting a diamond ring that is thought to have been Whitney's.

Ah, being engaged to her "brother." I think we can all agree that this is going to end very well for everyone involved..

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The Word: ‘Jersey Shore' to return for Season 6

EAST RUTHERFORD Computer beats are eclipsing rock riffs on the concert scene, as electronic music has become the soundtrack for teen rebellion.

"Rave" parties, debaucherous techno dance gatherings, are crossing over from the underground to the mainstream, and stirring up controversy in the process. The rebirth of rave culture is coupled with a comeback of the club drug Ecstasy, or MDMA.

The Electric Daisy Carnival, the countrys largest remix mega-fest, is making its Garden State debut at MetLife Stadium in May. Tickets were sold out within three hours of going on sale earlier this month.

"Were witnessing an explosion of electronic dance music in America," says Kerri Mason, a Billboard magazine columnist. "Young people arent going to see big rock bands in this cultural moment. Right now, with the recession, things are kind of marginal and bordering on crappy and all kids want to do is bounce around to happy dance music.

"Its communal. Its energetic," he says.

Its also alarming to parents and public health advocates. Electric Daisy Carnival was banished from its hometown, Los Angeles, after a 15-year-old girl died of an Ecstasy overdose two years ago. It relocated to Las Vegas last summer and drew an audience of 230,000 with no fatalities. Two drug-related deaths were reported, however, at an EDC spinoff in Dallas the same month.

Unprecedented safety measures are being mapped out for the MetLife tour stop on May 19-20. It will be the first Meadowlands concert with an 18-plus age restriction.

"We encourage adult responsibility among our fans," says Erika Raney, spokeswoman for Electric Daisy organizer, Insomniac Events, via e-mail. "MetLife Stadium has well-planned security procedures in place. Insomniac works closely with local and regional law enforcement at all events."

Thousands of glowstick-twirling fans are expected to sway around four stages as the sports complexs parking lot is transformed into a psychedelic theme park with rides and a vendor village. The lineup includes U.K. remix pioneers Fatboy Slim and John Digweed.

"Making the show 18 and older is a way for the promoters to protect themselves," says Jersey-based concert promoter John Scher, whose credits span from the Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen to the problem-plagued Woodstock 99.

See original here:
Electronic music mega-festival getting slapped with Meadowlands' first concert age restriction

The ex-president of Spain's tourist-heavy Balearic Islands has been sentenced to jail on corruption charges. Jaume Matas' sentence is part of a major graft case that may also implicate the son-in-law of King Juan Carlos.

Jaume Matas was sentenced to six years in prison at a court in Palma on Tuesday, after being found guilty of corruption charges.

The former Spanish environment minister was on trial because of allegations pertaining to his time as president of the Balearic Islands, a popular area for tourists including places like Mallorca and Ibiza.

Matas was found guilty of fraud, falsifying official documents, embezzlement trafficking influence. Judges also said he paid nearly 500,000 euros ($660,000) between 2003 and 2007 to companies owned by columnist Antonio Alemany, who was also employed as Matas' speechwriter.

The son-in-law of Spanish King Juan Carlos has appeared in court to answer questions about suspected fraudulent deals. The case comes at a time of rising disillusionment and anger over the countrys financial state. (25.02.2012)

Alemany, meanwhile, was convicted for forgery, among other charges, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

The sprawling corruption case, which has also implicated King Juan Carlos' son-in-law, Duke of Palma Inaki Urdangarin, also revolves around the 100 million euro project building the "Palma Arena" sports venue on Mallorca. Urdangarin, who has denied any wrongdoing, is suspected of funneling public funds into his own pocket.

Matas served as president of the Balearic Islands twice, between 1996 and 1999 and again from 2003 and 2007. The former cabinet minister is banned form public office for 10 years as a result of the sentence, which is subject to appeal.

msh/acb (AFP, AP, dpa)

Originally posted here:
Former Balearic Islands leader jailed for graft