The Glasgow TEN is a weekly digest bringing you advantageous insight in the form of great local stories, news, and links that you don’t have time to hunt down for yourself, but simply have to read! You can subscribe directly to the Glasgow TEN to have this sent to your email inbox every Monday, or you can wait until Wednesday to read it right here on GOG.
As plumes of smoke and flames could be seen billowing from the dome-shaped roof a £125million city construction site it was to be the sales of a Glasgow-based games development company’s latest offering that suddenly caught fire all across the globe.
What’s more, it was a week when the Information Commissioner’s Office spoke of a ‘flagrant disregard for the law and for the people of Glasgow’ among our council leaders, before issuing said leaders with a good stern punishment that they surely won’t forget in a hurry, in the form of a £150,000 fine to be paid for directly from the pockets of the very same public that they wronged…
Tsumanga Studios storm app charts
Glasgow-based games developer Tsumanga Studios, based at Entrepreneurial Spark’s The Glasgow Hatchery, has reached the top five of the most downloaded games charts in more than 10 countries after generating 550,000 downloads of its Winx Sirenix Power game in the very first month of release, reports The Herald. Set in the depths of the Infinite Ocean, players are invited to race fairies through beautiful underwater reefs and caves while attempting to avoid spells being cast in an attempt to thwart them. The Winx Sirenix Power game has been developed in partnership with Rainbow’s Winx Club, which, with over 130 half hour TV shows, two full-length theatrical releases, a theme park, a Broadway style musical, and an ice skating show, has already more than proven to be a top brand globally for girls aged 7 - 10. The game is free to download and play, however please be aware that in-app purchases are available.
Fish People Cafe wins ‘Seafood Restaurant of the Year’
Fish People Cafe is already a highly popular destination for seafood lovers and is set to become even more in demand after winning ‘Seafood Restaurant of the Year’ at the Scottish Restaurant Awards, this past week, narrowly defeating runners-up Cafe Fish in Edinburgh and The Tollbooth in Stonehaven, advises The Daily Record. For owner Andy Bell and manager Graham Hamilton, winning the award was the culmination of a lot of hard work building up a successful business, and acknowledgement of the passion that has been put into running the Fish People Cafe. “We were truly delighted to win this award” exclaimed Graham. “We originally opened as a fish and chip shop, then we became a fish shop with seats, and now we’re Seafood Restaurant of the Year. Scottish seafood is so important to the restaurant industry in this country, and the quality ensures that we can serve our customers the very best. It’s great for Glasgow to have another seafood restaurant on the map and we’re all very proud of what we’ve achieved in a short time.”
Clyde Tunnel 50th anniversary guided tours
Guided tours of the Clyde Tunnel are being planned for 7th July in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening, giving people the chance walk one of the bores of an astounding structure that it is impossible to fully appreciate when driving through in a car, reports The Scotsman. During last September’s Doors Open Day weekend, which gave people access to buildings in the city that are usually out of bounds, visits to the tunnel’s control room were completely sold-out within a very short space of time, so it is anticipated that these anniversary tours will likewise attract considerable interest from the public, too. The Clyde Tunnel is a half-mile crossing between Whiteinch and Govan carrying 65,000 vehicles each day and when construction completed in 1964 at a cost of £10.5million (approximately £200million in today’s money) it was the world’s steepest example, with a 1:16 gradient, enabling the carriageways to connect with surrounding streets such as Dumbarton Road.
ICO fines Glasgow City Council £150,000
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued Glasgow City Council with a monetary penalty of £150,000 following the loss of two unencrypted laptops, one of which contained the personal information of 20,143 people, including the bank account details of 6,069 individuals, explains The Evening Times. This serious breach of the Data Protection Act comes after the council was previously issued with an enforcement notice three years ago, following a similar breach of security where an unencrypted memory stick containing personal data was lost. In the latest incident, two unencrypted laptops were stolen from the council’s offices on 28th May, last year, at a location where several complaints about a lack of security had already been noted. A further audit has revealed that yet another 74 unencrypted council laptops remain unaccounted for, today, with at least six of these known to have been stolen, and council bosses are unable to say what data is stored on these devices.
The Shimmy Club to face sanctions?
The Shimmy Club, at Royal Exchange Square, faced global media scrutiny just a few weeks ago when news broke that the G1 Group venue had installed a two-way mirror looking into the ladies’ restroom, allowing revellers to watch and take pictures of unsuspecting women bending over the sink and adjusting themselves as they finish-up their bathroom business. According to a new report in The Herald, this past week, the licensing board is now all set to review the club’s licence at a fast-tracked hearing this coming Friday, with possible sanctions ranging from limiting the venue’s hours of operation to a suspension or even an outright closure. It will be interesting to see what transpires at the hearing as although political leaders, much like the rest of us, have rightfully said that it is completely unacceptable to think that women on a night out could be spied on for entertainment purposes, the club has countered by installing clearer signage for what they say is a novelty item which is easily avoided and has always been far from a secret.
Glasgow Hydro fire means further delays possible
Dozens of firefighters were called to the £125m construction site of the SECC Hydro shortly after 3pm on Saturday to tackle plumes of smoke and flames that could be seen coming from the domed roof, reports BBC Scotland. John Sharkey, chief executive at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), says: “We were notified by our contractors at about 3.15pm that a small fire had broken out on the upper-level perimeter. The fire service were called and the fire began to spread its way around the edge of the roof. The fire service moved to put it out in a prompt and professional manner for which we are very grateful. Now it’s just a case of waiting for the crews to clear the building and for our contractors, Lend Lease, to assess fire and water damage and give us an idea as to the kind of impact it will have on the programme.” Suggestions are that it could be up to a week before it is know whether the venue will still open on the recently revised date of 30th September, with a performance by Rod Stewart.
Faulty tower: Glasgow’s £10m white elephant
A feature article by Steven Brocklehurst on the BBC Scotland website brings us the story of the Glasgow Science Centre tower, which was supposed to be the city’s answer to the Eiffel Tower, but instead has become an expensive white elephant, riddled with problems and shut for more than 80% of its life. When built, the 127m-tall (416 ft) steel and glass tower, the highest building in Scotland, was the only structure in the world able to rotate fully through 360 degrees from base to top. But the £10m tower didn’t have much competition for that particular accolade and, closed since August 2010, it is a project that has been plagued by problems from the very start, with concern at one point that the structure might even topple over altogether. The science centre claims 65,000 people have been to the top of the tower which works out at about £150 per person without taking into account any operating costs or maintenance. To get the full scoop of the tower’s past, present, and future, access the article by clicking on the big pink headline above.
Glasgow School of Art 2013 Degree Show unveiled
The Degree Show offers an opportunity to see and buy work by students graduating from the GSA. Its celebrated alumni include award-winning architects such as Gareth Hoskins, fashion designers such as Jonathan Saunders, product designers such as Timorous Beasties and product design engineering graduates such as the current heads of design for Apple and Kindle/Amazon in the USA, not to mention a whole host of Turner Prize, Becks Futures and Hugo Boss Award winners and nominees. This past week, on Thursday 6th June, the most recent cohort of graduates from one the world’s most prestigious art, design and architecture schools unveiled their Degree Show projects. Spread over three sites - the Garnethill Campus (Fine Art and Architecture), the Skypark Campus (Design) and the Glue Factory (MFA) - 2013 Degree Show will be open to the public from 8th – 15th June, with daily opening times available on the official website by clicking on the big pink headline above.
Music from outer space
When most people think about astrophysics they probably think about calculations, charts, and texts, explains smithsonianmag.com. However, Wanda Diaz-Merced, a graduate student at the University of Glasgow, and fellow researcher Gerhard Sonnert have pioneered a different approach that involves converting x-rays from distant stars into blues, jazz, and classical music. When Diaz-Merced spent time in an astrophysical observatory, and inadvertently heard the hiss and pops of the signals collected by a radio telescope, she realised that there might be a way she could rely solely on her hearing to interpret data. Since, she’s teamed with computer scientists to use NASA-developed software called xSonify—which converts scientific data of all kinds into synthesised musical sounds, a process called sonification, to analyse solar flares on the sun, as well as x-rays coming from the EX Hydrae star system. You can click on the big pink headline above to read the article in-depth and/or simply listen to some of the music.
Taps-aff or taps-oan in Glasgow?
If you’d ever like a star to steer by when it comes to one of the most important social considerations of our time then local engineer and amateur weatherman, Colin Waddell, has got you covered with his new website taps-aff.co.uk, according to The Scottish Sun. Should the temperature ever soar to the heights of 17C (62.6F) then the weather is officially TAPS-AFF and it’s time to just let it all hang out, immediately. Should the temperature ever fall below that number then the weather is officially TAPS-OAN and you should cover-up fast. The website, which updates itself every 15 minutes and masks the underlying complexity of the mathematical calculations involved in determining the correct course of action, is fast developing a cult following, already attracting close to 1,000 curious visitors per day, with mobile apps to give the service an even broader reach currently under development, too. Check out this website right now to ensure that you don’t start your day by making an embarrassing fashion faux pas - simply by clicking on the big pink headline above.
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