The Guardian has reported that emailing and text messaging have been identified as causes of a compulsive-impulsive disorder by Dr Jerald Block, author of an editorial for the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The symptoms include:

•Withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible

•The need for better computers, more software, or more hours of use

•Excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives

I think I would be quite lost without my mobile phone, and even though I vowed never to have a purely ‘Facebook relationship’ (writing on walls, rather than calling for a chat) with some friends, it is beginning to happen. Just a quick written message and click ‘send’ and you can keep in contact with everyone you want to and fast.

It is quite mesmerizing to experience the advances in communication methods in the last five years or so. How would I find out what was for dinner without my mobile? How would I find out who is dating who without Facebook? So, am I suffering from compulsive-impulsive disorder? Well, I can’t imagine communicating easily without my mobile phone, but who’s as desperate as the subjects of that study? Are there really people out there who neglect to eat, drink and sleep, due to their need to be communicating at all times?!

Within days of Facebook introducing tighter security measures, photos of Paris Hilton, her brother Barron Nicholas Hilton, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have been accessed by a Canadian, who hacked into their private profiles after finding a glitch in the security system.

It is worrying to think that a recently updated security system can be so easily accessed by hackers. With social networking sites growing on a daily basis, I wonder if these sites can meet and maintain the security levels expected from its users. People need to take measures to guard their privacy and protect themselves against identify theft – some editing may be in order! And see Hannah’s blog about Facebook users who were unable to fully remove their profile after terminating their Facebook account. Once the information is on the internet, it is very hard to fully remove.

A study by The Information Commissioner's Office found that the amount of information stored about us on the internet will grow by a factor of ten between now and 2011. So, be careful what you post on the internet.

Just a quick blog to wish everyone a relaxing Easter bank holiday weekend.


(This picture was done earlier this week for some National Lottery activity. An unclaimed prize of £6.9m in Devon is due to expire in a few days...Imagine finding a ticket worth £6.9m in your back pocket!)

We had an incredibly hectic start to the week organising and attending a press conference for a Lottery jackpot winner from Newton Abbot.

Hannah and I spent all day on Monday down at the beautiful Barcelo Imperial Hotel in Torquay, which boasts breathtaking views over the sea and surrounds. The lucky winner was Peter Heal, who scooped a massive £2.8m!


Peter bought his ticket online for the first time last week and hit the jackpot! Beginner’s luck, for sure. He plans to buy a house in France and possibly a vineyard, close to where his parents live in the Poitou-Charentes region.

We managed to secure some great coverage regionally and nationally – see ITV Westcountry, The Sun and The Mirror.

I think I would go down the same route as Peter if I won that amount. A house in France would be great, maybe a house in Sardinia also, perhaps a holiday home in Sydney too...the list goes on and on and on…

There are serious questions being asked of the BBC over the way in which Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong is said to have directed some 2,000 uninvited teenagers to an 18th birthday party at a country house in South Devon.

I don’t think Pete Tong or the BBC can be exclusively blamed for the outcome of the evening. The birthday girl, Sarah Brooks, displayed posters at her school inviting ‘everyone’ to the party, and also put the poster on Facebook, which could have been potentially accessed by 68 million people. News travels extremely fast these days through the power of 'Word of Mouse' (read Matt's blog here for more on word of mouse).

Her mother said: 'I was flabbergasted and astonished that the BBC could be so irresponsible.’ What about making a statement about your daughter’s irresponsible behaviour, Mrs Brooks? At 18, Sarah is old enough to deal with the consequences of her actions.

She went on to say that she 'blamed modern means of communication.' The internet is a powerful tool that can send out messages (good and bad) instantly to millions of people. Perhaps the daughter did not realise the sheer power and speed of the internet and mass communications when she clicked a few buttons and posted the invitation on Facebook.

However, word of mouth is still a powerful tool and if enough people knew about the party then I am sure it would have ended like it did, with or without the aid of a computer.

Although Saga have launched its own social network site aimed at the over 50’s, it seems Silver Surfers want a piece of the younger social networking action on Youtube.


‘Geriatric 1927’ is amongst a growing number of Silver Surfers who are posting videos on the social networking site. Geriatric1927’s latest blog seeks to find out why more elderly people do not use the internet.

It is a credit to ‘geriatric1927’ that he is trying to teach other people his age about the internet. It is a great way for the older generation to stay in touch with family members, old friends and make new friends in their local community and I think that the internet is particularly useful in sharing images of grandchildren and families.

There are a small minority of ‘idiots’ who have left distasteful comments about the videos. I wonder if these small-minded people would be as quick to say the things they are writing, behind the protection of a screen name, to their own grandparents...I think not!

I have read that Robbie Williams is due to give his only interview of 2008 to singer Joss Stone on her new Peace, Love and Music show, which is aired on Exeter-based Gemini FM.

I think this is quite a coup for Gemini FM, given that no-one has seen or heard from Robbie since he left the UK to go into rehab in America a few years ago. Let’s hope Robbie is as charming, witty and cheeky as we all remember him.

It will also be interesting to see how natural Joss Stone, the new Cadbury’s Flake girl, is at radio presenting. It’s quite a career change for the 21 year old from Devon, who has sold more than 7.5 million albums worldwide. Maybe she is taking herself out of the limelight because of all the negative press she received at the beginning of last year after she appeared to be moaning on Radio One’s Chris Moyles Show about being rich and famous, and then angered fans by turning up late for her own album launch. Let’s hope the Devon beauty has dropped her diva attitude before she hits the airwaves.

Having previously been a blog virgin, I decided today is the day that I join the other 66,122 new bloggers who signed up to the Blogosphere in the last 24 hours.

I also thought I would time my entry to coincide with ‘The world's 50 most powerful blogs’, which Matt has blogged about today, featured in the Guardian. I thought I might be able to write enough to make the list next year… but the only thing that stands in my way is the other 74,736,781 identified blogs on Blogpulse!

Let's see how it goes...