Waterloo Road Season 8 Finale

There is something about Waterloo Road, I can't tell whether it is the romance, drama, creativity or characters which makes it a gripping and entertaining show which you will tune in every week to watch.

Waterloo Road is completely unique and there is nothing even remotely similar the show on television. It is a one hour weekly drama set in a modern secondary school in Scotland where the show follows the story of approximately 15 teachers and pupils. Some of them are smart, others selfish, others grumpy however all of them make the show what it is.

Since Waterloo Road started in 2006 not a single member of the cast has stayed the same. Most of them even moved onto bigger and better things. Jenna Louise Coleman who starred in season 4 of the show now plays as the Doctor's companion in Doctor Who, Robson Green went onto his own fishing show and the show currently stars dancer, George Sampson.

Waterloo Road appeals to most audiences, teenagers watch it because it is set in a school and adults watch it because they can feel nostalgic and remember what school was like.

The storylines can be a bit unrealistic sometimes however on the whole, Waterloo Road is a thoroughly enjoyable and fresh program which over 5.1 million people watch every week.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Last night it was the finale of Season 8 of Waterloo Road and it was unforgettable. It concluded with the departure of Tom Clarkson; he fell off the school roof trying to save a pupil. The writers cleverly tied up all the loose ends from this series but left you still wanting more. I can't wait until season 9 starts later this year.

Vine 1.3

Vine 1.3

A few weeks ago Instagram released a huge update allowing users to upload videos and add filters to them. So to keep up with the competition, Vine released version 1.3 earlier this week which adds loads of new tools and features.

We all know that Vine is owned by Twitter and the most popular thing you can do with Twitter is retweet something so Vine is following in her mother's footprints and now allows you to revine videos so all of your followers can see the Vines you love.

Recording a Vine has now got more complex as there are now new options you can use. You can now add a grid onto your screen, you can use a new focus button however when I tried it it made no difference to what I was recording and finally there is a ghost tool which overlays your last frame over the camera so you can be more imaginative when recording. I'd recommend that you update your Vine app to experience these new tools yourself.

The Vine Channels

Also, like Twitter, Vine is now supporting protected accounts which only people with permission can view.

If you want to opposite to that (more people to see your Vines), you can add your 6-second videos to a channel. There is a channel for most things from comedy to cats. You just select the channel on the upload page.

Finally, like every update to every app, there has been bug fixes and the app has been made faster.

Overall, although it might not seem like much, this is a major update which has made the app more of a pleasure to use. Vine 1.3 shows that Twitter is determined to beat Instagram to make the best micro-video sharing app.

Is Formula 1 boring?

Over the last few years Formula One has became extremely technical and taken over by regulations and 'health and safety' however has this killed the sport?

It is good news now that Formula 1 drivers no longer die during races and that there are no terrible crashes however it is crashes that make F1 what it is. Crashes is not the only thing that modern F1 is lacking, taking over and unexpected wins have also been decreasing over the last 5 years. Watching cars drive round the same track for ninety minutes is not entertaining anymore.

So - instead of just complaining I have came up with a solution. Make tracks wider - a lot wider. The Monaco F1 track is an iconic street circuit however it is hardly ideal! There is not much run off area, no space for taking over and since it is a street circuit it means that the track is only as wide as the road.

I was at Croft Circuit last weekend and watching the touring cars. As the day went on the weather got worse  until the cars were slipping around like they were on ice. Almost all the cars had run off the track by the end of the last race. This made me think about the same situation in F1 - it just wouldn't happen. As soon as their is a small drizzle over the track the commentators exaggerate the situation, there are yellow flags waving and safety cars get sent out before any action can happen. This is understandable since F1 cars aren't as protected and easy to drive as touring cars however I think the rules should be changed so they are forced to drive in the rain!

Is BlackBerry 10 Hardware ugly?

The BlackBerry Z10

BlackBerry 10 is a failure of a operating system. There are currently only 3 mobile devices which run BlackBerry 10: the Q10, the Z10 and the Q5.

The Z10 was launched at the same time of the launch of BlackBerry 10 and it is a touchscreen smartphone with no physical keys (which was a risky move which still hasn't paid off). The Z10 has got terrible reviews because of the operating system however there hasn't been many comments on the hardware.
In my opinion, the phone is extremely standard and doesn't have any unique hardware features which will make it stand out.

The Q10 is a traditional BlackBerry device with a small rectangular touchscreen at the top and a physical QWERTY keyboard at the bottom. I've owned a couple of phones with QWERTY keyboard and they work fine as long as you have small fingers. The Q10 is no exception and, like the Z10, is has been held back by it's weak operating system.

The ugliest phone ever: the HTC ChaCha

Earlier this year BlackBerry launched the Q5 which is a smartphone similar to the Q10 however not as expensive and apart from the HTC ChaCha (pictured right) the Q5 is the most ugly smartphone I've ever seen!
I think there is something about all QWERTY smartphones which disgusts me.
This phone is another reminder why you shouldn't invest your money into buying a BlackBerry device.

In conclusion, if BlackBerry doesn't introduce some more ambitious hardware quickly they are going to end up in serious financial trouble as their current smartphones are extremely basic and boring.

Flipboard and Facebook for Windows 8

It is currently Build 2013 which is Microsoft’s equivalent to the World Wide Developers Conference. Last year at Build they announced the Windows 8 Preview (which is the metro PC operating system) and the Microsoft Surface (Microsoft’s own touchscreen computer).

This year they released the Windows 8.1 Preview for developers and announced that Facebook and Flipboard will soon be coming to the Windows 8 app marketplace.
To be honest, the Windows 8 app market is currently weak. It got off to a decent start last October when over 1000 apps were getting added to the store everyday but now that number has decreased to only a few dozen and some big titles are still missing.
Flipboard and Facebook luckily being added to the Marketplace and this will hopefully make Windows 8 a lot more popular.

"Flipboard fits naturally into #Windows8... We aspire to craft the world's most beautiful Windows app."-@Flipboard CEO #bldwin
— Windows (@Windows) June 26, 2013

Flipboard is the most popular iPad app and it uses tiles (similar to Windows 8 tiles) to display news from various different feeds. Since Windows 8 was launched last November both critics and consumers have been saying that Flipboard would be perfect for Windows 8. The only thing we know about this app so far is from the 9 second video that the Flipboard team uploaded onto YouTube yesterday. We can clearly see that it is the Flipboard we all know and love however it also has some modifications to make it better on Windows 8.


Facebook is an app which has been needed on Windows 8 since it first launched. The Facebook website is anything but touch friendly so is terrible when using it on touch screen devices and the 3rd party Facebook apps currently available just look like a stretched version of the Facebook mobile site.

Unfortunately we do not know the exact release date of these two apps however they will be coming before the end of the year and will work great on Windows 8.1. Both companies are also showing enthusiasm about making their app ‘the best on the app Market’ so we can certainly trust they are going to be fluid, fast and intuitive. Whatever more would you want out of an app?

Shine Awards Tomorrow!

The Wyvern at the 2012 Shine Awards

Tomorrow, Jack Barker (cameraman), Ben Maclean (director) and I (editor-in-chief) will be taking the voyage down to London for the annual Shine School Media Awards. The award ceremony is taking place at Stationers Hall (near St Paul's Cathedral) and starts at 12:15PM.

Last year was the first year 'The Wyvern' entered the Shine Awards and we came runners up in the best editorial content category and I won the award for the most outstanding pupil. This year the Wyvern is nominated for the best community initiative (for our connections with the community and the rest of the school) and best online (for the amazing Wyvern Website). The whole team hopes that we walk away with at least one of these awards.

You can find the link to the Shine Award edition of the Wyvern here: Scribd

As always, there are loads of ways you can follow our journey tomorrow and get live updates. You can follow any of these accounts on Twitter:
@DSMSUK - The school
@DSMS_Wyvern - The newspaper
@papermail7 - Me!

Or you can watch this page on the Wyvern Website: Shine Awards 2013 Finalists
Or wait for the next Wyvern TV where we will have a full video roundup of the day.

The Essentials

In preparation for tomorrow I've got three items ready which I will definitely need for the trip.

HTC Radar
This is no iPhone however it has the essential stuff like Twitter, a decent camera and live notifications. This will be my way to contact to the rest of the Wyvern team back in Darlington and the rest of the world (through Twitter).

Parker Pen
Chances are I'll need to make some notes throughout the day or do a small amount of writing so I've got my best pen just in case. I know some people who find it just as easy to make notes on their phones however I hate writing using small smartphone keyboards.

Sony Camcorder
I don't know the exact model and name however the camcorder I will be using is small, HD, has image stabilisation and can also be a camera if I need it to be. It can easily fit in my pocket and I just need to flick the screen open if I want to do some filming for the Wyvern TV.

In conclusion, I for one cannot wait for tomorrow morning so we can represent the Wyvern team and hopefully receive an award for the dedication, enthusiasm and persistence the whole Wyvern team has put in over the last 12 months.
I'm sure tomorrow will be an extremely enjoyable experience where we will get to see similar school newspapers and talk to fellow teenage journalists.

Saturday 22nd June 2013: In the News this Week

It's the week of Saturday 22nd June 2013 and...

Instagram update allows Video posts
Instagram, the photo sharing service owned by Facebook, is now allowing users to upload 15 second videos after a new update to the iOS and Android app. After recording your video you can add one of the thirteen video filters, pick a thumbnail image and share it on various social networks. This update comes less than half a year after the successful launch of Vine (a 6 second video sharing app owned by Twitter.)
The new update is okay however it takes ages to complete all of the steps to upload your video and it also takes awhile for them to load on your Instagram feed.
Overall, Instagram wasn't under any pressure to come up with anything new and unique because they were doing fine with just photo uploads however this update may have made them slightly more popular. I for one will not be using Instagram's micro-video sharing feature because Vine is more simple and faster.

Google Reader Alternatives
With the popular Google Reader service being retired early next month many other tech companies have launched a competition RSS reader to cater for your RSS feed needs.
Feedly
Feedly is the main company whose business has been booming since Google announced that it was shutting down Google Reader. Apparently thousands of accounts got transferred from Google Reader to Feedly in the matter of days after Google announced the retirement. Feedly offers a clean website and app with basically everything you would want in an RSS reader. Everything is simple and basic which isn't a bad thing.
Flipboard
Flipboard is a popular app for reading the news from both official sources and your social feeds. It sent an email to all of it's users earlier this week showing them how they could easily import their Google Reader accounts into the Flipboard app. Flipboard offers a service which looks stunning however there is no web version and Flipboard only excels when using it on an iPad.
Digg
Digg launched an RSS reader beta earlier this week. It is even more basic than Feedly however it is likely to be more popular since Digg already has hundreds of thousands of customers. The beta version is only on the web so far and it is extremely black and white. Although it is easy to use it looks really boring and too flat. The team at Digg said that they made this in half the time they would have liked to and they will continue updating and improving it even after it's official launch. Digg Reader is coming out of beta next Wednesday.
AOL
AOL has also launched a beta RSS reader this week. We don't know what it is going to look like or if it is going to bring any unique features to the table as it is still in private beta however it launches in two days time so we will find out then.

All these services are extremely similar however I think I will be using the Digg RSS reader to replace Google Reader. It looks promising and comes from a trustworthy team of geeks.

DSMS Sports Day
On Tuesday 18th June 2013 it was Sports Day at DSMS where pupils from all years went out on to the school field to race against each other. More information here: The Wyvern

Sports Day 2013

Read the full story of Sports Day 2013 on the Wyvern Website. It includes results, videos, images and more... http://wyvern-sport.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sports-day-2013.html

Wyvern TV #12

Windows 8.1 Preview

The Windows 8.1 Start Screen

Earlier this week Microsoft officially showed off for the first time Windows 8.1 which is a free update available to all Windows 8 users later this year. The preview showed hundreds of new changes and new features which will be available to download in a consumer preview from 26th June.

Personalisation
First thing which was shown off, and the thing you'll first realise when you turn on your new PC, is the new sized live tiles. There are now extremely small live tiles and extremely big live tiles so you can see even more information without even needing to click on an app.
You can how have your 'Start Screen' background as an animated graphic, the same as your desktop mode background or you can choose one of hundreds of colours now. Not just the 25 which are available on Windows 8. Both these features make your start screen even more unique and personal to you.

Settings
The 'Settings' menu on the 'Modern' user interface was very limited on Windows 8 with only some of the settings available to actually tweak there. If you wanted to change the majority of the settings you needed to open 'Control Panel' on the desktop mode which isn't ideal if you are using a touchscreen. Luckily though, in Windows 8.1 almost 100% of the settings are now available to edit under the 'PC Settings' option in the charms menu.

Start Button
The iconic Windows 'Start' button returns on Windows 8.1 and it is used just as a way to get back to the home menu on desktop mode. We don't know much about what else it may be able to do however this is a risky move as there is already two 'Start' buttons on most Windows 8 devices currently. One in the middle at the bottom of your device (if it is a tablet) and on in the middle of the charms menu.

Search
The searching function on Windows 8 was pretty good. You can search for an item by opening the charms menu and selecting search and then typing an app, contact, song, video or anything else. It even searched the web if you wanted it to making a lot better than the search tools on Android and iOS devices. In Windows 8.1 it is made even better by making a collage of your search results. You can search in the same way however the results get displayed in a unique 'metro' styled way which makes finding what you are lucking for even easier!
The example we were shows was a search for Marilyn Monroe. The 'Search' feature showed an image of her followed by her basic information like her day of birth and day of death. It then showed videos and movies related to her (clicking on them would take you to XBOX Video) and then if you scrolled along you can see some of her songs, then some more images and then relevant web links.

Apps
Apps are one of the most important things to have when launching a new operating system. Microsoft are adding a number of apps in Windows 8.1 including an alarm, sound recorder, calculator and a replacement for Windows Movie Maker called Movie Moments. Movie Moments was extremely basic when it was first previewed in March and only offered the ability to add text over videos. All the XBOX Apps (Music, Video and Games) are getting relaunched to so it takes 2 clicks to do what you need to do instead of the current 6 clicks. This is basically making Windows 8.1 a better experience which more people will want to use.

Multitasking
In Windows 8 you can have only 2 apps open at a time (which is still better than iOS) however in Windows 8.1 you will be able to have upto 4 apps open at a time depending on the size of your screen. You will also be able to select exactly how much screen space you want an app to take up (either 25%, 33%, 50%, 66%, 75% or of course 100%.)

Outlook 2013
Windows Mail on Windows 8 is an extremely basic email app with limited functions and a is way too slow compared with competitor apps. Outlook however has been one of the most popular email managing softwares for the last decade. It is the most powerful and includes the most features.
After complaints that it didn't come in Office 2013 on Windows RT Microsoft has decided to add the desktop program to all Windows RT devices in the Windows 8.1 update.

How the update will look to current Windows 8 users

The Future
There is also rumours that you'll also be able to interact with notifications (if that makes any sense), there will be a new Start menu on desktop mode with a clean design and a new way to turn your PC off however we will need to wait until the Consumer Preview launch on June 26th to find out more.