One of the UK’s biggest local pizza firms, Domino’s, is targeting students and student media with a pioneering new advertising widget.

The firm wants students to sell pizza to their friends via sites such as Facebook and MySpace. It has created a simple application that can be installed on social media profiles as well as blogs and other personal sites. The device allows users to track pizza sales and earn commissions when someone in their network orders a meal.

But the widget is also being seen as an easy way for student media websites to get started in affiliate marketing and increase their advertising revenue. Setting up accounts with affiliate firms can be a complicated affair, but the Domino’s widget is a ‘one click’ process that involves giving an email address and pasting some code. It will allow student media sites to test the potential of affiliate advertising.

A spokesman for the firm that created the application for Domino’s said: “Our ‘Social Affiliate’ tool will open up affiliate marketing beyond typical channels to anyone who has a web space. Brands benefit by aligning with sites run by fans who are more likely to drive a sale, while site owners can generate revenues from their Facebook page or blog.”

To find out more, go to http://widget.dominos.co.uk/

Image credit: CC/AIP

Rules preventing landlords from renting their properties to student sharers are to be relaxed.

New housing minister Grant Shapps wants to give local councils the choice over where they allow shared homes – known as ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation’ – rather than be dictated to by government.

He said: “Local people know the local problems they face – they don’t need top-down diktats from Whitehall telling them how to solve them, or indeed telling them to solve problems that don’t exist in their area in the first place.

“I’m not going to create unnecessary costs for landlords that could damage the rental sector and limit the number of properties available for rent, particularly when so many young people working in our towns and cities rely on sharing with friends for an affordable home.”

The idea has been welcomed by student leaders. NUS President Aaron Porter said: “Students often live in shared houses as this is the only affordable option for them. This is a step in the right direction towards undoing harmful legislation that would have effectively created quotas on the number of students able to live in certain areas, forcing many into unsuitable accommodation.

“We welcome this change and the consultation over the coming months, but will be urging the Minister to ensure that students are not excluded from certain areas simply by dint of their housing arrangements.”

Poster for 'yaD' competition, Bollocks to Poverty

Start your day with a curry and end it by partying in your pyjamas.

That’s the suggestion of poverty charity ActionAid, which wants students across the UK to turn their universities upside down with a day in reverse – a ‘yaD’.

As part of its Bollocks to Poverty initiative, the charity is offering a trip of a lifetime to South Africa for the students’ union that puts on the best event.

“A yaD is literally a day backwards,” says the charity’s spokesperson. “It can start with a three-course dinner party or a group curry, continue with some early bar hopping then a bit of daytime TV.

“As night falls, slip into those comfy pyjamas and slippers for the best breakfast party ever- have orange juice cocktails, vodka-laced cornflakes and a full English.

“By getting together with your SU and turning your day upside down, you’ll be helping to put the world to rights. Whether it be though cereal-eating competitions, an English breakfast cook off or a pyjama-clad street collection, all the money and awareness raised from your yaD event will help ActionAid’s vital work fighting global poverty and injustice around the world.”

ActionAid will be taking two students from the union that puts on the best yaD to South Africa. The winners will get to help a community in a remote village to build a training centre, and they will see first hand just how the money raised changes lives forever.

The winning yaDs will not necessarily be the biggest. Judges are looking for the more original, creative or outrageous. The only condition is that the yaD must be held by 31 January 2010.

For a free event pack detailing everything organisers need to know, plus themed games and fundraising ideas, decorations, banners and lots of prizes and freebies to give out like limited edition mugs and pillowcases, register at www.actionaid.org.uk/universities.

ActionAid works in Africa, Asia and the Americas to end global poverty and injustice.

MaYoMo has announced its full public launch, describing itself as a powerful new video-centric social network for mobile citizen journalists and “the most inspired alternative source for global, multimedia news content”.

The site is particularly interested in attracting student journalists as users and creators.

“Unlike other sources of world news,” says MaYoMo, which stands for ‘Map Your Moments’, the site “delivers independent, global news content with Web 2.0 convenience and flexibility. It is designed for both journalists and independently minded, socially and globally aware readers around the world who need a new, socially-connected, real-time platform for global news reporting – and conversation about that news.”

Hristo Alexiev, CEO and co-founder of MaYoMo, says: “MaYoMo allows users to ask and answer the question, ‘What’s happening, where and when?’. We’re a ‘social news network’ for journalists and their readers, empowering a new era of Internet news creation and distribution. A key difference with our model is that we attract content from both young, aspiring journalists, as well as experienced independent journalists and bloggers.”

MaYoMo takes interaction between audience and media to a new level, allowing users to request news from specific places and on specific topics, providing direct feedback about users’ interests. The MaYoMo platform allows users to place their news reports not only in the real world, but in “Virtu” as well ─ a continent with virtual countries, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, and dozens more.

A “Timeline” feature lets site visitors see a retrospective of news from the past, as well as a prognosis for future news.

Access to all content on the MaYoMo website is free. Anyone can quickly create an account and start contributing content and uploading photos, video, and other media assets – from a variety of devices, including video-enabled phones. Contributors who have met certain criteria can create their own “channels” and generate income from them. To show its commitment to becoming a credible source in “the new era of Internet journalism”, MaYoMo has also launched a program with journalism schools in the US and other countries.  It aims to promote itself as an ideal forum for students to apply their skills and become published writers on the global stage. For more, visit www.mayomo.com.

The production, dubbed ‘Skins on stage’, captured the imagination of British youth when it opened earlier this year, and earned high praise from critics.

A cursory glance at the 3,000-strong Facebook fan group and enthusiastic reviews from The Telegraph, Time Out and others would have suggested the show had a bright future in the West End.

However the racy story of sexual discovery and rebellion failed to engage the necessary numbers of mainstream theatre-goers, leading to its early closure at the end of this month.

Now producers are issuing a final call to the youth audience that has taken Spring Awakening to its heart: come and see it now, while you have a chance.

They are offering a cut-price £20 ticket to all UK students, and making available seats that might otherwise cost more than twice that.

The access this discount, click this unique booking link.

The find out more about the show, visit springawakening.co.uk

Two-thirds of us would, according to a new survey which labels halitosis as “the UK’s deadliest taboo.”

Men are apparently more honest than women when it comes to the delicate subject of rotten breath.

Over a third of British men (34%) would quite happily let their friends know about their oral odours, compared to just under a quarter of women.

The survey, from toothpaste firm Colgate, found bad breath is our biggest turn off when it comes to sex. Most said it would put them off the opposite sex – more than other afflictions such as bad skin, baldness in men or too much make up on women.

Telling the family is no easier. Informing a partner their breath smells would be stressful, with more than a tenth of people surveyed (12%) saying they would find it too hard.

Psychiatrist Dr. Salah Fadl said: “People find it very difficult to tell someone they know that they have bad breath because nobody wants to be perceived as repulsive. We want to be presentable and to think that we look good and smell good – which is impossible if we know we have bad breath.

“It can have a very detrimental effect on self-confidence as it can cause social embarrassment. In short, if we have bad breath, we don’t feel good about ourselves and we don’t feel attractive to the opposite sex.”

Photo credit: Creative Commons

Jason Carter, BBC Live Events, said: “We’re delighted to have landed The Prodigy. They’re a superb live act and we’ve been working very hard to get them in on the show as a late addition. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic weekend of live music.”

The station’s free annual flagship event takes place in Lydiard Park, Swindon, and hosts 40,000 music fans. There are four arenas: the Main Stage; the In New Music We Trust Stage; the Outdoor Stage; and the BBC Introducing Stage.

A truly multi-platform experience, the two-day event will be broadcast on Radio 1, with a major interactive presence online at bbc.co.uk/radio1 and many live performances available to watch on demand.

There will be highlights on BBC Three and extended performances can be seen via the Red Button on digital TV during the weekend.

DJs including Chris Moyles; Jo Whiley; Vernon Kay; Scott Mills; Fearne & Reggie; Edith Bowman; Zane Lowe; Annie Mac; Greg James; and Nick Grimshaw will be introducing the bands on stage and broadcasting from the event.

For more information about Radio 1′s Big Weekend visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

The University and College Union says its members may vote to strike if universities don’t go on record and dismiss plans to cull hundreds of academic posts.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: “The failure of the employers to react to the growing crisis has forced our hand. We need to get an agreement sorted now to stop a wide ranging cull of academic jobs without proper alternatives being considered.”

The union had given the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) until 20 April to provide a credible response to its demands for the need for a national agreement to avoid redundancies in the UK’s universities.

That didn’t arrive, so they are now balloting members, with results expected on 1 May.
Responding to news, National Union of Students president Wes Streeting said: “Given the effects of the current economic climate on the graduate jobs market, students need industrial action by university staff like a hole in the head.

“NUS has repeatedly called for all parties to handle the financial crisis in a way that minimises the negative impact on teaching and learning. It is vital that all parties get around the table to end the threat of strike action.”

Photo credit: Creative Commons

A survey conducted by the UK Youth Parliament has found 36% of young people are choosing courses because they are cheap or because they can live at home while they attend.

In addition, 64% say that the current UK recession will affect their ability to finance their time at university, with most citing reasons of parental job losses, restricted family income and difficulties in finding part time jobs.

The figures are revealed as the UK Youth Parliament calls for the abolition of tuition fees.

James Greenhalgh, organisation member, said: “The current economic climate, coupled with crippling tuition fees is disastrous for the future of higher education. Students should feel able to choose the courses or universities that they are best suited to, not feel forced into opting for bargain bucket courses to save money.

“Many students and prospective students are going to struggle even more as a result of the recession. Just like everyone else, their incomes will be squeezed and things are going to be tough; support is being offered to pensioners, to business, the banks, to those struggling with mortgages – pretty much everyone. But not students.”

The survey also found that 95% of young people oppose the government lifting the current cap on university tuition fees.

David Blunkett MP said: “Whilst it’s clear that no government is going to pull the financial plug on the university sector by simply abolishing fees, it would at this time of global financial downturn be unacceptable to lift the cap and have a free-for-all across universities.”

Further information: UK Youth Parliament

Academic book retailer Blackwell has become the first in the UK to install an on-demand book printing machine.

The Espresso Book Machine, which is being switched on initially at the store’s Charing Cross Road branch in London, allows customers to choose titles from an online catalogue and have them printed while they wait.

It is able to print, bind and trim a library-quality paperback book at 112 pages per minute, complete with four-colour covers, identical to factory made copies.

Andrew Hutchings, CEO of Blackwell, said: “From the first instance we read about the Espresso Book Machine we were very keen to see it in action. From a retailer’s and book supplier’s point of view this is a fantastic opportunity. We are very much looking forward to working with ODB [On Demand Books].”

The eco-credentials of printing books this way are impressive. With no lorry needed to transport heavyweight boxes of academic titles, CO2 emissions are reduced. Additionally the mass pulping of unsold books becomes a thing of the past.

The business case for the EBM is also strong. Blackwell is able to cut out supply chain costs, match consumer demands and eliminate unwanted returns.

If trials go well, Blackwell plans to install the machine in more of their 50 branches across the UK.

For more information: http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/editorial/browse/espresso.jsp

Photo credits: http://www.ondemandbooks.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sylvar/506974777/