The final photos from the studio Movember.

Movember is in full flow in the Nzime studio with some of us having more success than others (I blame my youth and fair hair). Ed came in sporting an impressive handlebar moustache earlier in the week which caused quite a stir on the train. Help support our Movember campaign by making a donation at: http://uk.movember.com/donate/team-details/id/208070

It’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Here at Nzime we donating our top lips to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men’s health. Our Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancer’s affecting men.

Why are we so passionate about men’s health?
* 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
* This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
* 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
* 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

We are asking you to support my Movember campaign by making a donation at: http://uk.movember.com/donate/team-details/id/208070

Four months ago I was stood track side at Silverstone in awe of the talent and ability of this man as I tried to take photos of these riders and their machines at unimaginable speed. Unfortunately today Marco Simoncelli is no longer with us due to a terrible on track incident in Sepang. I was one of the lucky ones getting to witness his talents before he passed. He was the only Racer on the grid in my mind that could have truly follow in Valentino Rossi’s footsteps after he retires. No other rider had his flare, talent or drive.

Many of us in the studio are huge MotoGP fans and have followed for the sport for more years than we can count. Our thoughts go out to Simoncellis Friends and Family, not forgetting Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards who were helpless to avoid the horrific, unavoidable collision.

From a PR perspective releasing a large update was the right thing to do but from a users point of view Facebook should have phased in the new functionality.

One thing Facebook are holding back from the masses is the new profile replacement “Facebook Timeline”. Facebook Developers have been given early access to this wonderful new profile page which is a massive improvement on the previous “profile page”.

The timeline is cleaner, more structured and offers functionality previously not available within Facebook. The most notable changes are the timeline down the right side of the page allowing you to track back throughout the years, the large cover image and the layout of your recent activity.

The timeline has great potential, it will be interesting to see how Facebook uses it.

Panthers mascot Paws took some time out his busy schedule for a quick photo.

End of the final period with a glorious Panthers 10 – Blaze 1 on the score board.

“Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested that the government plans to block social media services like Twitter as a way of preventing further riots.”  Read more: Metro

If the Government were to find a way to remove all UK access to Facebook, Twitter and similar social networking services they would need to block the API’s that mobile devices use to connect to the social networks otherwise the block would be pointless. By blocking the API’s you also block the thousands of businesses from using the authentication methods provided by the likes of Twitter and Facebook.

To make the registration and login process easier for users of online services/businesses, many companies have integrated their services and websites into Facebook and Twitters authentication platforms. These platforms allowing users to use their social media accounts to register/login to sites without having to have a separate login and password for every site/service they use.

For example: James has registered with an online store with his Facebook account and wishes to make a purchase. He adds the items to his basket and proceeds to checkout where he is asked to login. James has registered to the site with his Facebook account so he clicks on the Facebook login to be greeted by our governments social media block and cannot proceed with his order. Depending on the duration of the block and the customer in question, the e-commerce seller has potentially lost a sale. If a large percentage of their customer base use Facebook or Twitter Authentication their business wouldn’t be able to make any sales.

Hopefully I am wrong and any block wouldn’t impact businesses but I won’t hold my breath.

Update: Other areas to consider are: Businesses that employ people to handle their social media, businesses that revolve around social media such as facebook applications and facebook online stores.

I’d like to introduce you to to the Official Kinect Sports Facebook Application.

Whether your specialty is Bowling, Table Tennis or a spot of Beach Volleyball (bikini not required) you can put your skills up against anyone and everyone with international leagues. You have the option to simply join the current weeks league or subscribe, which will automatically enter you into your selected leagues every week.

If you prefer competition on a more personal level, invite your Facebook friends to your own personal weekly league. You choose the Sport, Number of Games, League name and Start Date.

So you’ve joined a few international leagues and invited your friends to the bowling league to end all leagues you can then keep track of everyones progress in My Leagues. After joining a league you have been invited to you can also keep a track on the progress and how long you have to get your games in. Once leagues are finished they are fully archived for you to reminisce on your achievements.

If you have played Kinect Sports you will be fully aware of the hysteria generated by seeing your game highlights. If you were daring enough to upload your videos to Kinect Share you can view them all in My(your) Videos.

My Records: See how you compare against your friends, find out who’s been practicing a little too much and if it’s your thing brag to your Facebook friends about how great you are.

Over the weekend some of us took a little time out away from the screens to get some much needed, high speed, motorbike action at the Silverstone MotoGP. The weather on Saturday was beautiful for qualifying, with some of us looking a similar colour to Rossi’s Ducati by the end of the day.

Unfortunately it wasn’t so friendly on Race Day with heavy rain and harsh winds, it didn’t stop the fans from turning out in their masses though. The Riders braved the treacherous conditions to put on a great show with some fairing better than others.

Congratulations to Colin Edwards who came an amazing 3rd despite breaking his collar bone the week before.

After the successful installation of the Fooseball table into the Nzime studio. We thought we needed to up our game a bit and bring back some Retro Arcade gaming into our lives.

Let the Nzime Sega Rally championship commence!