11 Out Of 10 Blog

All those that have a Blackberry phone will be aware that their server has crashed….for another day.

There were constant Facebook messages and tweets on Monday from Blackberry users, all complaining that they can’t use their phone for BBM messenger. I just brushed this off, thinking it may have been a quick mobile phone network provider’s service that was down (as us Orange customers will know) and that it will be sorted in a matter of hours. However, when I got home last night, messages of outrage were will still being expressed.

Orange sent out this message to their Blackberry customers -

‘Hi from Orange. We’re sorry, some BlackBerry customers are still experiencing problems with sending & receiving emails, browsing the internet & using BlackBerry Messenger. BlackBerry are looking into this urgently and hope to resolve it soon, so there’s no need to get in touch. Thanks for your patience’

Whilst getting ready for work on Tuesday, I quickly heard on the news that there were server problems at RIM’s Slough Data Centre. This problem didn’t only cause a huge issue in the UK, but for the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa too! News has just broken out that it has reached the U.S. and Canada! Who would have thought that the Berkshire town of Slough would cause such mayhem?!

Blackberry owners have been complaining on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The below message made me realise that one, it’s to do with the Blackberry themselves and two, how glad I am to have an iPhone!

And so the problems continue…

It has now been reported that Blackberry users are experiencing a new service disruption and are unable to send messages or emails too. So, first it was not being able to send BBM messages or browse the internet and now this? What can the phone be used for? Just when you thought the worst was over…absolute outrage!

Blackberry has around 70m users around the world and how many of these do you think are slightly unhappy right now? Quite a lot I’d say!

Blackberry has already seen a drop in market share to their rivals Apple, so could this take a turn for the worse for the popular smart phone brand? We’ll have to see how they deal with this and what they give their customers in return.

This is perfect timing for Apple as they are due to launch the iMessenger today. Doesn’t look like Blackberry will be feeling too fruity right now!

But, I guess I had a lucky escape with upgrading to an iPhone, the Blackberry was an option!

Are you a Blackberry victim? Leave your comments below and tell us your views on this.

The London riots are into its third night and spreading across UK cities such as, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and Nottingham like a disease. But how did it get so out of control?

What began as a rioting protest in Tottenham, North London after a police shooting on Thursday 4^th August, killing Mark Duggan. Social Media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have been strongly accused of spurring these riots into what can only be described by the nation as ‘Anarchy’. A Facebook page was created to remember the victim ‘R.I.P. Mark Duggan’, but certain posts were alerted.

“Please upload any pictures or video’s you may have from tonight in Tottenham. Share it with people to send the message out as to why this has blown into a riot.”

Twitter feeds began to publicly display where the rioters were heading next, whilst uploading photos and videos of looting and burning police cars. Could Twitter have been a warning to the public and police about these unsociable attacks on the Capital?

With the activity on Twitter being publically displayed, Blackberry Messenger became the popular option to communicate between rioters.  One BBM reading:

“Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, Bare SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!)…… Dead the ends and colour war for now so if you see a brother… SALUT! if you see a fed… SHOOT!

Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Steve Kavangh argued that, Twitter held the primary blame for organising levels of ‘greed and criminality’.

With Twitter being blamed for this ‘war zone’, Scotland Yard tweeted that, over the next 24 hours, 13,000 police officers will be on duty in London. Controversial?

Editing tweets on Twitter is as serious as the recent phone hacking. One tweet read –

AshleysAR ‘I hear Tottenham’s going coco-bananas right now. Watch me roll’, after a top UK Newspaper had edited it, published by the BBC. It should have read -

‘I hear Tottenham’s going coco-bananas right now. Watch me roll up with a spud gun :/’. So how was Twitter to blame? It wasn’t. It was misleading. According to the BBC, experts fear the extent to which technology is to blame may have been overstated.

In fact, Twitter and Facebook has brought the nation together in supporting the victims and wanting to put a stop this indecent mayhem #prayforlondon #staysafe. Twitter account @riotcleanup has attracted over 18,000 followers and aiding to coordinate cleanups around the badly hit London areas. Other Twitter users were using the #riotcleanup to arrange meet ups and help clean the areas surrounding their homes. There is little evidence to suggest that these out of control riots were orchestrated by on Social Media public feeds.

The Metropolitan Police have uploaded recent photos from the London riot onto Flickr in an attempt to identify looters.

The public have been advised to contact the police or Crimestoppers if they know of anyone rioting on the streets, 0800 555 111.