Gigajam News 

Teenagers around the country are dusting off their drums and buffing up their bass guitars in time to take part in a major music competition.
The massively popular Rock Idol - now re-named RockIT! - is underway again, giving school-based bands the chance to strut their stuff.
And, the winners will get to walk away with musical kit and lesson software for the guitar, base, keyboards and drums worth around £,2500.00 for their school, from main sponsors Roland and Gigajam.
Hosted by the West Midlands Grid for Learning (WMNET), the project involves all ten regional Grids for Learning in England, plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which provide broadband connection and a wealth of resources for use over broadband to schools and colleges.
In keeping with its aim of promoting the use of ICT in education, RockIT! is a showcase for technology, as the battle of the bands is conducted via video conference.
While an expert panel will give their judgement and both regional and national finals, friends and supporters of the bands will have the chance to vote over the Internet and to text and post comments to the judges.
As well as writing and performing an original piece of work, competitors are required to create a BandBlog, with the option of using text, voice, music and even video to chart their progress. This will be taken into account as part of the judging process.
Last year the band, Angel Fall, from Northern Ireland took the title after beating off competition from 117 others and impressing judges with their sound and style.
Registration for this year's bash opened on May 1st and bands can find out full details from the official RockIT! website at www.rockit2007.org.uk
The final will be staged in Birmingham early in December, from where performances will be relayed around the nation via video conference, as well as on BBC Big Screens in several city centres.
Ends
The regional Grids for Learning, also known as Regional Broadband Consortia (RBCs) were set up by the DfES five years ago. They were tasked with linking all schools to broadband by December 2006. Now that has broadly been achieved, the RBCs are concentrating upon providing good quality broadband enabled resources.
The RBCs now receive part funding from the DfES and part from their Local Authority members.
For more information contact Jean Maund jean.maund@wmnet.org.uk