Posted by Yardie Luke on July 30, 2011 under Health | 
The family of a budding computer programmer have on Saturday launched a campaign to raise awareness about the health risks of playing online computer games after their son died following a marathon session on his Xbox.
A post-mortem revealed that 20-year-old Chris Staniforth — who was offered a place to study Game Design at Leicester University — was killed by a pulmonary embolism, which can occur if someone sits in the same position for several hours.
Deep vein thrombosis normally affects passengers on long-haul flights, but medical experts fear youngsters who spend hours glued to their consoles might also be at risk and have urged them to take regular breaks.
Professor Brian Colvin — an expert on blood-related conditions — said it was “unhealthy” for youngsters to spend long periods in front of their consoles.
“There’s anxiety about obesity and children not doing anything other than looking at computer screens,” he told The Sun.
David Staniforth has now launched a campaign to warn other parents of the dangers.
“Games are fun and once you’ve started playing it’s hard to stop.
“Kids all over the country are playing these games for long periods – they don’t realise it could kill them,” he told The Sun.
A coroner’s court in Sheffield was told how the youngster — who had no underlying medical conditions — was complaining of a low heart rate before collapsing outside a Jobcentre.
Staniforth’s distraught father said his son would spend up to 12 hours playing on his Xbox.
“He got sucked in playing Halo online against people from all over the world.”
Online computer games are extremely popular as thousands interact in shared science fiction worlds.
Reports of gamers collapsing after spending 15 hours in front of video games are fairly common throughout Asia.
In 2005, a South Korean gamer died after playing online games for three days without taking a break.
Microsoft — which manufactures the Xbox — said it “recommend gamers take breaks to exercise as well as make time for other pursuits.”
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Posted by Yardie Luke on July 10, 2011 under Jamaica Sports |
BIRMINGHAM, England — Asafa Powell overcame a tentative start to win the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds at the Aviva Grand Prix Diamond League meet Sunday, adding to his confidence going into the world championships next month.
He was delayed by a false start and then a faulty start before striding to victory ahead of fellow Jamaicans Nesta Carter and Michael Frater.
The 28-year-old Powell said in the buildup to the meet that he felt like the “man to beat.” Though fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt is the world champion and world-record holder, Powell is the quickest man this year after running 9.78 in Lausanne 10 days ago.
“I was only going to do enough to win today,” Powell said. “I didn’t want to push too hard. I just wanted to get the win. At the worlds, I’m definitely going to win. I’m going for it and I’ll try not to disappoint.”
Powell has set his sights on dethroning Bolt at the worlds in Daegu, South Korea, beginning Aug. 27.
After a 9.95 in the heats, his 70th sub-10-second run, Powell was expected to better that in the final — especially as the earlier rain had cleared up and gave way to slightly improved conditions. But after Jaysuma Saidy Ndure of Norway false-started and was disqualified, there was then another abandoned start before Powell could finally get going.
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Posted by Yardie Luke on July 4, 2011 under Jamaica Travel |
PASSENGER trains will begin service today from Charlemont via Linstead, Bog Walk and Spanish Town in St Catherine to coincide with the month-long closure of the Bog Walk Gorge.
Chairman of The Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) Barry Bonitto announced on Friday that the trains will run between Monday to Friday with two trains departing from Charlemont at 5:30 and 7:15 in the morning and one from Spanish Town scheduled for departure at 6:25.
The afternoon trains will depart Spanish Town at 3:30 and 6:15 and Charlemont at 2:20.
Children travelling from Linstead to Spanish Town and vice versa will pay $75 and adults $150, while travel from Angel to Spanish Town will attract $50 for children and $80 for adults. Executive coach passengers will be required to pay a flat rate of $300.
According to the JRC chairman, plans are afoot to increase the number of trains in the coming months based on the commuting demand.
But although the JRC said today’s service signals phase one of the phased resumption, Transport Minister Mike Henry yesterday said that the move was not an official return of rail service, but a continuation of the test run which began in April.
According to Henry, the service “is in no way shape or form reflective of the pending official roll-out of the rail service, beginning in St Catherine and Clarendon.”
He said the rail-testing is to help with transportation needs between Linstead and Spanish Town while the gorge is closed to facilitate the completion of a pipe-laying project by the National Water Commission.
“The use of the trains during the continued testing period would be of additional assistance in minimising the commuter inconvenience from the closure of the gorge,” Henry explained.
The minister said with the passenger rail service absent for almost two decades, a lot of very detailed applications were relative to the resumption exercise. He said these would not be rushed, “and the actual roll-out will take place soon enough”.
One critical element of the overall resumption, he said, was the recent restoration of the integrity of the old May Pen Bridge in Clarendon, to accommodate the passage of trains across the structure.
A similar focus is on the long-collapsed Sandy Gully Bridge in St Andrew, which has to be rebuilt to facilitate the return of rail service to Kingston.
However, the Sandy Gully project, which has a one-year time-span, has no bearing on the first phases of the resumption between May Pen and Linstead via Spanish Town, according to Henry.
Meanwhile, the JRC has urged Jamaicans to refrain from further vandalism of the tracks.
“…being closed for some 19 years, there has been vandalism to our property (and) we are calling upon all well-thinking Jamaicans to assist us and work with us to ensure that the safety and integrity of our tracks are protected in order to maintain the safety of our passengers,” Bonitto said.
The gorge will be closed to vehicular traffic for a month. The alternative routes are through Barry or Sligoville.
