JAMES GREEN

When I made the plunge into the world of journalism I had thoughts of writing gripping articles, learning the art of interviewing and getting my name in a newspaper under an article. Well maybe thats all to come, BUT I did not foresee having to learn this... Nope its not French, or Spanish, even though it looks like a foreign language, its Shorthand writing. This is the Teeline style of it. A true journalistic skill. The aim is to be able to write this at 100 words per minute. A task that at the moment looks a million miles away! 100 WPM is the barrier that employers look for from a journalist. We tend to speak at about 150 words a minute on average. With the developments in technology with dictaphones and mobile phones and other recording devices, shorthand isn't exactly used as much as before. So what's the point? In a lot of circumstances journalists might not be able to use a recording device. It can be such a useful skill to have to be able to jot down

Social Media has changed so much in our lives, from speaking with friends, storing photo albums, shopping, DATING and now it's even changed what 'some' people perceive as being cool. What is your perception of 'being cool'? I have an image in my head of a confident person walking down the street dressed cool, without a care in the world of how anyone else perceives them. This is what I picture when I think 'COOL' Yes OK it's David Beckham. And let's be honest he is one of the coolest men on the planet. How about a better example, a neutral one. This laid back guy with a cool hair style, a leather jacket (which is a classic sign of being cool right) and just oozing confidence. BUT THEN Social Media takes over the world.  People found a new way of discovering what is cool or what they perceived as being cool.  Now I am not telling anyone what is cool to then because we are all entitled to our opinions and because one