Idea blog

would you like to be in ChildLine’s next TV ad?

 

As part of ChildLine’s current how u feelin? campaign, we are making a TV ad for  early next year. We’d like as many young people as possible to be in it – so I’d love you to be involved if you can make it.

We are filming on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November in a studio in London.

You’ll need to be between 11 and 16, and keen to tell us how you’re feeling. You can laugh, scream, shout, yawn…or whatever works for you.

You’ll also need an adult to accompany you on the day and a signed copy of the consent form from your parent/guardian in order to take part.

Interested? Then mini-mail Emily or me on Habbo, so we can tell you more about where and when you need to go, and what you could be doing. Just let us know by the end of Tuesday 24 November. 

Really hope to hear from you!

Download consent form

how u feelin?

In case you hadn't noticed, ChildLine has a brand new campaign called "how u feelin?", and I'd love for you to be a part of it!

You can be a part of it, just by telling us how you're feeling. That's because ChildLine wants to know how all young people feel. We're calling every answer we get a "moodi", and we want to capture the moodi of the nation. So let us know by posting on the message boards, creating a picture, or playing a game. You can also let us know at the "how u feelin?" Habbo group discussion forums.

Oh, and I'm blogging with my friends Emma, Emily and James over here on the moodi-blog. Take a look for news about the campaign, and to get your hands on wallpapers, games and some of the other great stuff that's being created!

cool stuff on the interwebs

I’ve recently found out about a few genius sites, thanks to one of my staffers, Bunnieboy!, at Idea HQ.

Kongregate and Spogg are two great gaming sites I didn’t know of before. And they have been distracting me from judging your entries to Idea briefs for a bit too long. I’m especially digging Little Wheel, a nice little puzzle game where you figure out how to wake a sleeping city of robots.  

Or if you like things a little faster, try TG Motocross 2. I've literally lost hours of my life playing this. And I still wipe out on time trial 4. Bah!

And, for anyone who’s looking at a mountain of design technology revision, check out the animations, exercises and other helpful stuff on TechnologyStudent. It could be of use.

Nice one Bunnieboy!

play your worries away

At this point of the year things can get really frustrating. Summer's around the corner, but you've got exams or coursework or both before you can kick back and chill out.

So when you need a break, try one of the games on the ChildLine site. There's Pong (a bit of a classic from back in the day), Demon Dash and Skyland Adventures, not to mention our awesome newbie, Ten Fore. Beat my score if you think you can!

And if stuff to do with school ever feels like it's getting too much, check out ChildLine's advice for coping with exam stress.

beat my score...

...on Ten Fore! It's a new game on ChildLine  -  an urban golf game where you need to hit the targets with balls that splatter! Beat my highest score of 1 minute and 20 seconds and tell me about it!

the index of what matters to you

A while ago I asked everyone at Idea HQ to take a look at ChildLine’s advice for young people. I wanted you to make sure that it would be really easy to understand for anyone with a worry on their mind – specifically by looking at how the index was organised.

I was really impressed by your feedback, which you can see for yourself here. Loads of you contributed, but my favourite entries came from EnglishJackBAN, Rachio, Blissa, Mike…! and rich-jj-lol. Great stuff!

A few things interested me. For example, there are plenty of subjects that ChildLine needs to cover, but doesn’t as yet. And that the way you think about things (how you group stuff together, and how you’d run through individual topics) is sometimes quite different too. 

So yet again you’ve inspired me. And you’ve given ChildLine plenty of food for thought too. Nice one, staffers!

in case you’re thinking about it…

Loads of you will be busy revising for exams, busy doing them, busy doing coursework. So I know it’s a really hectic, stressful time.

ChildLine knows how tough it can be too, so they’ve got some great advice about managing homework and exams.

And they’ve also got a leaflet you can download. The tips are really good:

1. Plan ahead
2. Pamper yourself
3. Prepare
4. Perform as well as you can
5. …phew!

Over the next few weeks Idea will also have some super-easy briefs for you to try your hand at. They could help you chill out and/or vent your frustrations…whatever you need!

proof that people just care

Anyone who knows me also knows I love robots. So when I saw this through Twitter, I just had to blog about it. 

New York. Not a city that's known for being particularly friendly. Although, going by this, that's a little unfair. Tweenbots is a project by an art student who uses technology in her stuff. She created these lovely little robots who can only travel in a straight line.

And then gave them a complicated journey to take. Because they need to turn left and right, and get past obstacles, they need people to help them on their way. 

So that's exactly what passers by did. They helped them turn corners, get up and down kerbs and all sorts. All of the robots reached their destination. None of them went missing.

How cool is that?

Now I just need to figure out what a ChildLine robot thingy would be about. Maybe there's an idea in this for one of our gaming briefs? What do you think?

crazy things happening with iphones

People are doing really creative things with iPhones all the time. Here's some stuff I really like. The Mouth Off app is fun.



And I LOVE this: a cover of Kids by MGMT, done by a group of girls all playing instruments they've downloaded from the App Store.

will you be hired?

If you're taking part in Habbo's The HABprentice campaign, check out my first set of hints and tips to help you succeed here. If you're not, get with the programme!