The Digital Minute: Recent Episodes
Comsteria
Colin Kelly's Digital Minute is your essential, daily, 60 second tech and social media update.
Fast moving, jargon free and with a consumer focus, subscribe and Colin will keep you right up to date with the essential news from the world of digital - including the major social media platforms, e-commerce, the smart home, cyber security and much more.
Unnamed sources have an important role to play when it comes to exposing wrongdoing, whistleblowing and corruption.
But they've become overused in much of our media and run rampant online with no controls or accountability.
Worse, they give rise to the myth that there's a secret elite of connected 'insiders' that know more than you and me.
It's time we called out this nonsense and made sure unnamed sources and people who quote them are held to a higher standard.
Comsteria's Colin Kelly delivers Linkedin traning and is getting asked this question A LOT!
Here's a quick explainer.
Visit Comsteria online and find out more about our training and consultancy work, all designed to help you communicate with power!
www.comsteria.co.uk
We've got several important advantages over our competitors.
Obviously, we've youth on our side. Training and consultancy is a full time business for us - we're not doing this on the side while working for someone else or enjoying a semi retirement.
We live and breathe this every single day. And our knowledge of the media is based on how it is now, not how things were 25 years ago.
And as Colin Kelly explains in this episode of the Powerful Communication podcast, our priority is building you up and making you feel confident when you're dealing with the media, rather than trying to impress you with war stories about how powerful newspapers used to be.
We work with small businesses, large multi-nationals, charities, government agencies, sports organisations, individuals in the arts and many more, across a wide variety of sectors. Call us today on 0141 628 8228 or visit us at www.comsteria.co.uk to discuss how we can help you.
Here's a simple step you can take to improve your understanding of the media, which in turn will increase your confidence, hek you get over some fear of the unknown and should also highlight opportunities you can take advantage of.
If you're part of a comms team, you could all get involved in this and share the workload.
Colin Kelly with advice on how to get the most out of a relationship with a PR agency.
At Comsteria, we believe the best results come from combining outsourced agency support with investment in your own skills.
Contact us today to discuss what we can do for you.
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly with advice on a neat and tidy way to 'put the brakes on' and stop talking when you're giving an interview.
Don't user use this..it would get annoying if you did it on every answer, but used sparingly, this is a good technique to help end an answer strongly and get a key call to action across.
Hello, and welcome to another episode from Comsteria's Powerful Communiation podcast for PR and communications professionals.
We know lots of small business owners enjoy listening to this podcast as well - you are all very welcome and thanks for the encouraging feedback some of you send across.
You can get in touch with us anytime - just email admin@comsteria.co.uk
Many of us are getting set up for a new season after a break or at least a quieter period over the summer. It's a good time to revisit a basic of good communication - the desire for honesty and transparency, especially from the leadership team.
But how honest should we really be when it comes to things like staff updates and regular briefings?
Have a listen to the hypothetical situation outlined in this episode and let me know what you could do.
There's no right or wrong of course, it's about being the best you can be, finding a balance and managing staff and customer expectations but I'm interested in how you would do that. And if it's something you'd like some help or guidance with - get in touch. I enjoy working with businesses of all shapes and sizes, in various sectors, helping put in place communications strategies that deliver the results you want.
Get in touch today to discuss what Comsteria can do for you.
We've realised media training has a particular 'reputation' in some sections of society.
Many of the participants on our courses say things at the end of the day like 'I actually quite enjoyed that' or 'I didn't think that would be so much fun', or 'I was dreading that but it was actually really good'.
We think this is because some providers use a 'break you down and build you back up' approach, where the 'breaking you down' bit is particularly brutal.
We don't do this.
Our media training is safe, supportive, friendly and yes, we hope, even fun.
Listen to this and get in touch if you need to know more. Call us on 0141 628 8228 or visit our website.
If your organisation is leaving people hanging after they apply for jobs - you need to take action!
Poor HR = Poor PR!
Find out more about the work we're doing to help every organisation communicate with power.
Visit www.comsteria.co.uk
We need people to experiment with new technology such as ChatGPT, MidJourney and the rest but there's much more to artificial intelligence than creating videos and pictures that freak people out with how realistic they are.
Technology is not entertainment. It's a tool we use. And we can learn lessons from our friends in farming and the way they've used technlogy wisely over the last 100 years or so.
Here are my 4 principles for AI in pr and comms.
I hope they help and if you'd like more no nonsense advice around implementing artificial intelligence (or any technology) within your comms team - get in touch.
I kep hearing clients say they 'don't have time' and yet many of those same clients tell me that over the last few months they've been experimenting with AI at work.
So where did the time come from?
And could you use this same approach to free up time for other important activities?
If your business has something to say, Comsteria can help you say it better, or we'll say it for you.
Founded in Scotland in 2012 but operating throughout the UK and beyond, our team deliver media training, public relations, video and podcast production, crisis comms advice, presentation skills training and much more.
Visit us online at www.comsteria.co.uk and discover what we can do for you.
Rule Number 1 - only pick fights you can't lose. Rule Number 2 - learn to recognise when you're dealing with a winner.
Some advice from Comsteria's Colin Kelly.
Contact us today for tailored, confidential support to develop your writing skills.
colin@comsteria.co.uk
www.comsteria.co.uk
Your message, with clarity and personality.
Comsteria's mission is to help your organisation communicate with power.
Find out more about all our training, consultancy and creative services in our 2024 brochure.
Here's something you can try if you're facing questions from a hostile audience.
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly shares a quick tip that can get you out of a tight spot and balance up a negative line of questioning from journalists or your own staff.
Find out more about our #powerfulcommunication training, Visit Comsteria online at www.comsteria.co.uk
Colin Kelly is back on the Powerful Communication podcast from Comsteria.
Grab our new training and creative services brochure, with full details of our courses and content creation.
Should we talk about 'National Health Service' instead of 'NHS' all the time?
A quick chat about 2 of the best communicators I've ever encountered.
There's so much you can learn from Iona MacGowan and Sam Sulek if you're interested in digital media content creation, general marketing and anything around engaging an audience.
Brilliant.
The Celtic manager referred to a reporter as a 'good girl' when he walked away from a post match interview yesterday.
Why don't PR and comms profesionals get involved when things like this occur?
Can't they see the potential for reputational damage?
Easier all round of course if men improve their attitudes but it should't take national newspaper headlines the following day and an outcry from women's groups for the BUSINESS to realise this shouldn't have happened.
Stop deifying football managers and other powerful people in your organisation. Treat them like the liabilities they often are, especially in these moments of high emotion.
Risk assess every media engagement.
Replace the word 'legislation' with the word 'guidance'.
Send your completed MP3 recording to colin@comsteria.co.uk
If you're involved in thought leadership in any way, you ought to be aware of the dangers of false assertions.
Here's Comsteria's Colin Kelly with more.
Looking for new ways to get your message across with clarity and personality? Ask about our Presenting With Confidence prsentation skills training.
www.comsteria.co.uk
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly reacts to CEO of Centrica, Chris O'Shea's latest interview here he reveaed his salary last year was £4.5 million.
Are you able to be sp upfront about your earnings? What are the pros and cons of sharing this in an interview?
Have a listen.
Here's a quick look at what went on during our media training webinar yesterday.
A couple of participants made some excellent progress.
Think we can help you? Get in touch - colin@comsteria.co.uk
Colin Kelly from Comsteria calls for a grown up conversation around mental health and an end to what he calls 'an unholy mangling of the English language'.
Every year, Comsteria helps more than 200 organisations communicate with power. Get in touch and see what we can do for you. www.comsteria.co.uk
This is an issue many organisations are facing at the moment.
But there's a lack of understanding around why many staff are reluctant to come back.
In this episode, Comsteria's Colin Kelly explains how many employees have been left feeling after the COVID pandemic and cost of living crisis and how you need to better understand what's going on in their heads.
There's also some advice regarding what you could do to try and change this situation - and the key - we believe, is in forming communities based around the extra curricular passions of your staff.
Need more? Get in touch with us.
Comsteria's Powerful Communication podcast helps communications professionals and small business owners navigate today's fast moving communications world.
Today, Colin Kelly discusses how you might implement an internal working group to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in your organisation.
To find out more about Comsteria and the work we do, visit our website.
Comsteria is back for 2024 helping businesses like yours communicate with power.
From media training to crisis comms, smartphone video production, writing workshops and podcasting, we are here to support you with every aspect of your corporate communications activity.
In this podcast, our media trainer and Managing Director Colin Kelly explores the growing phenomenon of YouTube 'audit' videos where people turn up with phones, cameras and drones and film as much of your business as they can and then post the recordings on YouTube. Some of them are even live streams. How would you react if this happened to you?
For an example of the sort of video we're talking about - check out this channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2f6xTb8sA
We make no comment on the behaviour of anyone appearing in these videos, neither party is known to us and we have no interest in it. The important point for us, is that more than half a million people have now viewed this particular video. What steps can you take to prepare your team (and perhaps third party contractors if your site security is outsourced)for something similar happening at your gate?
When you're introduced at conferences or on podcasts, make sure you give a positive first impression. You don't need to use your actual job title and don't include abslutely everything you've ever done when the host asks for your biography.
https://www.comsteria.co.uk
Every business needs a value proposition, a USP, an edge over its competitors.
Could the promise of marble tables do it for Pizza Express?
I'm not convinced.
I said I'd only mention AI on this channel when there was something useful and relevant to share. Here are a few thoughts, courtesy of the Government Communication Service who is using the technology to good effect.
This is a special edition of our podcast, for our loyal subscribers.
We recently flew past a milestone - our 500th podcast episode.
So here is a special episode taking a moment to reflect on our business journey, highlight our wider mission and share some insights into what makes Comsteria what is it.
It's a much longer episode than normal and features the following:
- Thoughts about living and working with COVID - How Emma joined the business, and how we met! - All about our grammar and proofreading and writing training - A free gift for anyone that makes it to listening all the way to the end! Get in touch via colin@comsteria.co.uk to claim your free gift!
Thanks for listening and here's to the next 500 episodes!
Comsteria has been delivering the UK's most relevant media relations training since 2012.
It might come as a surprise to hear that some of the participants on our courses have no intention of going on camera and facing journalists.
But they still get plenty out of the day.
Find out more about Comsteria's #powerfulcommunication revolution. Visit our website today.
Comsteria founder and crisis communications consultant Colin Kelly shares some opinions on the row involving Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales and the controversial statement the organisation issued in his defence.
One of the biggest issues I encounter when talking with PR, comms and marketing professionals is the complaint that the rest of the organisation doesn't understand what they do.
Guess what...that's your fault not theirs!
I'm being cruel.
Perhaps both sides have a responsibility.
Listen to this and get in touch if your organisation needs help with #powerfulcommunication from presentation skills training, to video production, podcasts, PR and crisis comms...Comsteria is ready to work with you.
A look ahead to the Linkedin webinar, delivered by Colin Kelly as part of the Digital Boost programme of free business support for businesses in Scotland.
Find out more at www.bgateway.com.events
Colin Kelly from Comsteria - the powerful communication specalist - shares some thoughts on how much information our businesses should be sharing with staff.
We're living in an era of ultra-transparency, where staff have an expectation you're telling them EVERYTHING.
Where do you draw the line? And what are the implications?
Listen now and visit us online to find out more about our media training, communications strategy and video production services. www.comsteria.co.uk
This #powerfulcommunication podcast from Comsteria is inspired by something Ange Postecoglou said just before he left Celtic earlier this summer.
Have a listen and get in touch if your business or comms team needs our help! From media training, video, podcasts and presentation skills..to crisis comms, strategy and social media - we can put together the support you need.
Rule number 1 of better relationships with the media - consume more media.
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly discusses 2 new outlets he thinks you should get familiar with.
Visit our website for more #powerfulcommunication and media relations advice.
I think the Scottish Government needs to up its game when it comes to dealing with the media around the Scottish Parliament right now.
Some of this advice will help other organisations dealing with hostile journalists.
If you need media training or crisis communications advice, get in touch with Colin Kelly at Comsteria by calling 0141 628 8228 or visit www.comsteria.co.uk
Have you ever had an argument with your partner where you start off arguing about something seemingly quite small and it then escalates? Previous issues from the past resurface and the whole thing ends up much bigger than you ever believed possible. You wonder how you got there.
Often these arguments are resolved when one or both parties realise what's actually happening. You think the issue is over an intepretation of the facts, but in some cases, what's really at stake is not so much what you've done but rather, how you've made the other party feel.
You're convinced the facts are on your side. But the other person is still upset and continually pointing out your interpretation of the facts isn't going to make them feel any better.
This sometimes happens with large organisations and there's a technique you can use in media interviews, statements and social media that might help.
Listen now and get in touch if your organisation needs help with media interviews, public relations and crisis comms. Visit us online at www.comsteria.co.uk
Or call 0141 628 8228.
You probably know where your business appears on Google for specific keywords.
But what happens if a potential customer asks ChatGPT or another AI chatbot about your business?
Here's a quick test you can try.
https://www.comsteria.co.uk
If you have a company blog, makes sure you use it!
Keep it updated regularly, don't have a few posts from 5 years ago and nothing up-to-date and relevant now.
As I consider whether to put my trust in you and buy from you, your blog is a key channel I will explore.
More on this - including a true story from the weekend - on the latest Comsteria #powerfulcommunication podcast.
Hi I'm Colin Kelly. This is the #powerfulcommunication podcast from Comsteria. You
can keep up to date with us at Comsteria.co.uk.
If you're interested in podcast or video production, Instagram Reels and Tik Tok or media relations training or crisis comms, then we're here for you.
Comsteria.co.uk with our communications training and consultancy.
Today I want to talk about artificial
intelligence in small business and
marketing and public relations. You
know that it's not so much the reality
that's important but rather the
perception. I think the perception is
that you're already using these
artificial intelligence tools like chat
GPT and the rest, and that you have at
least some element of homeworking or
flexible working or remote working.
And as a result of COVID the office
has shrunk or maybe even closed completely
or relocated, but that you've got at
least some of your staff, some of the
time working from home and that you're
using these AI tools.
So that's the perception
and the question then is well why
aren't your prices coming down? Why is it
not cheaper? If we've got this amazing
tool - and remember that the clients will
have played around with it themselves.
They've used it and they've seen it and
they've heard about it. So if we've got
this amazing tool that can create
content so much quicker
and without you having to be involved,
well then why has the cost not come down?
When we look at technological advances
in every other area of society,
the cost comes down. So when is it coming
down in PR, small businesses and
marketing? And how much is it coming down
by? And who will move first? And if you're
not going to do that, if this tool and
this remote working isn't going to make
it cheaper, well then why not and what
will you be saying to your clients in
order to justify that?
I'd love to know what you think you can catch up with us
at comsteria.co.uk
Colin Kelly has another Powerful Communication podcast.
In this episode, we look at how your organisation might share information. You could take a technical approach where you share the root document. You might make it memorable, prioritising the information and perhaps building a mnemonic or 'chunking' it down into a rule of 3, or could you use emotion to get your point across?
Have a listen and remember to subscribe to get all our future episodes as they're published.
Find out more about Comsteria and how we can help you with media training, crisis comms, podcast production, smartphone video and more.
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly with some advice for larger businesses and political organisations facing hostile media coverage.
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast for more #powerfulcommunication and visit the Comsteria website to see what we can do for your organisation.
Comsteria's media trainer Colin Kelly explains one of the toughest questions you'll face in interviews - the 'yes/no' trap, and how you can deal with it.
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is being widely ridiculed for a video he's published where he uses a cup of coffee to explain why inflation is rising. Comsteria's founder and media relations trainer Colin Kelly explain his take on this and the lessons your organisation can learn. For more advice on #powerfulcommunication visit us at www.comsteria.co.uk
Like many communications professionals, I've been experimenting with the artificial intelligence chat bot, ChatGPT.
This is a discussion of what I've found and why, in my opinion, it has no place in our industry and why I believe not using it, will quickly become a badge of honour.
Comsteria works with more than 300 businesses every year, helping them communicate with power.
Whether you're producing podcasts or videos, looking to write with clarity and personality or want to get your messages across in media interviews - we have the training and consultancy expertise to get the results you want.
Call us today on (UK) 0141 628 8228 or visit www.comsteria.co.uk
Whether it's sending press releases, producing videos or a campaign on socia media, coming up with innovative new ways of talking about your work is very valuable.
But how can you cultivate a culture of innovation in your comms team?
It starts with making sure people aren't scared of making mistakes.
Here are a few thoughts from Colin Kelly, media relations trainer at Comsteria.
Nothing stifles a comms team like constant day-to-day firefighting.
It's refreshing to get the team together, set some proper goals and go about achieving them with determination and focus.
In one recent media training session delivered by my business, Comsteria Limited, we were discussing pitching stories to the media when one participant commented that 'you win some you lose some'. This of course is true. But we don't need to sit back and accept our fate. We can be proactive - take on specific battles and make absolutely sure we win them.
It's the same when people talk about this desire for 'engagement' or 'awareness'. Specifically, what sort of engagement? From whom? We unpick all this in our training sessions, pulling in tactics from the wider business world as well as sport and popular culture. Jessica Ennis knew she was going to win London 2012 Olympic gold. Music producer Brian Higgins knew 'The Promise' would be a massive hit for Girls Aloud and become a defining sound for a generation.
Have a listen to this podcast for more on the power of intent, the importance of clear, specific goals and how bringing in an outsider could be the breath of fresh air your business or comms team needs.
Comsteria delivers the UK's most relevant media relations training.
We know modern audiences and journalists will rip the piss out you if you try to evade basic lines of questioning.
We know the tricks journalists use to make stories seem bigger and more sensational than they really are.
And we can teach you, and help you practice the techniques to keep you safe.
Get in touch today to discuss our media relations training courses. Whatever your level of experience and however hostile you expect the interviews to be - we'll build a course that's a perfect fit for your needs. In this episode of our Powerful Communication podcast, Colin Kelly shares a couple of examples from this week's news where the politicians concerned could have done better, and what you can learn from their mistakes.
Comsteria's Colin Kelly is your trusted guide for the Metaverse and NFTs (digital collectables).
Listen to the Powerful Communication podcast for regular insight and updates into this fast moving (and heavily hyped!) immersive internet of the future.
Colin has recently delivered highly engaging, jargon free introductory in person talks and remote webinars on this topic for clients including the Chartered Institute Of Public Relations and the Department Of International Trade.
Subscribe to this podcast for more Metaverse content soon, along with other discussion topics of interest to business owners and communications professionals.
In this episode, Colin discusses how he sees history repeating itself and points out that the first generation of search engines didn't have the longevity as the internet and World Wide Web hit the mainstream.
Enjoy the podcast and get in touch with us through the Comsteria website.
Adidas has dropped Kanye West and his Yeezy line of shoes.
In this episode of Comsteria's #powerfulcommunication podcast, Colin Kelly looks at the lessons for brands working with celebrities on endorsement deals, as well as smaller businesses who might be working with influencers.
To find out how Comsteria can help your business or comms team, visit us online at www.comsteria.co.uk
Simon Cowell is at the centre of what he hopes will be another revolution in the music industry.
He’s teaming up with Samsung and TikTok to launch a new ‘beat making’ competition.
It’s called ‘Stemdrop’ and will involve renowned producer Max Martin who’s worked with some of the biggest names in pop releasing a clip of music on TikTok but giving anyone who wants it access to the individual component parts of the track - the drums, vocals, guitar and so on, which are all known as ‘stems’.
Contestants will be able to work with those teams and reshape them into something of their own creation.
Definitely one to keep an eye on.
And a Negroni Spagliato with Prosecco in it has become one of the most talked about drinks on the internet.
It’s all because of a TikTok clip sharing part of a discussion between HBO ‘House Of The Dragon’ stars Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy.
Cooke asks D’Arcy what her drink of choice is - the answer has gone viral with thousands of lip sync videos, remixes and parodies.
It’s led to a surge in interest for the drink itself with it becoming particularly popular among members of the queer community.
There’s a great article on the Telegraph website about the Metaverse - the virtual future of the internet which Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has committed billions of dollars to.
Business reporter Io Dodds spent a week pretty much ‘living’ in the meta verse - or at least doing as much in it as possible and she’s put together a fascinating account of what it’s like.
Get the link on the hashtag digitalminuteUK or through the Telegraph online.
You can also follow @iododds on Twitter.
Cyber security is in the spotlight after Meta announced its security teams had found more than 400 malicious iPhone and Android apps designed to steal Facebook log in information.
They’ve now been removed but were made to look like business apps, photo editors, games and other utilities.
Be very careful when you’re giving third party apps access to your social media profiles or a Google account - once they’re in, they can get your user names, passwords, message your friends and exploit you in other ways.
Meta says there seems to be a particular risk around photo editors , promising extra features. We always suggest sticking to official, well known tools such as Canva or Photoshop.
If you’ve any doubt, don’t use them and delete any existing aps you don’t use or aren’t sure about.
Running anti virus protection on your mobile device is also worth doing although in many cases wouldn’t stop the issues associated with these malicious apps.
Twitter’s edit button is here at last but if you want it - you’ll have to pay.
You need to use Twitter’s Premium ‘twitter blue’ service.
Tweets that have been edited will appear with a pencil icon in the top right corner, clicking on that will show you what the original said.
Instagram is testing a new feature which would let users add multiple links in their biographies.
Currently, only 1 is allowed and that makes things difficult for some celebrities, charities or businesses with more than one call to action they want to highlight.
Many have used a work around with tools such as Link Fire, LinkTree or building landing pages in Canva.
Is this a good example of giving people what they want or might it make Instagram a more cluttered environment?
Now a couple of dates for your diary - Cyber Monday - that’s the online e-commerce version of Black Friday is happening on Monday 28th November.
Black Friday is the previous Friday, the 25th.
And October is a big month for video games releases with Lego Bricktales out this Wednesday, Nickelodeon Katy Racers 3 on Friday and Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed coming on the 18th that’s a week tomorrow.
I thought I’d mention a few favourite blogs today.
One of the most interesting in terms of communication, marketing and thought leadership is Seth Godin.
Find him at seths.blog - he’s been blogging almost every single day more more than 7 thousand days.
I you love music industry stories then Bob Lefsetz is an essential read.
Some of his posts are incredibly long but fascinating, dealing with everything from the state of modern pop music right back to the golden years of rock and roll.
He’s incredibly well connected and has some incredible stories - find him at lefsetz.com
TechCrunch, Mashable and Gizmodo are all good for technology and the future of the internet.
News from Google last night at their Made By Google event - the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones were previewed - they’re available to pre order now and on sale from October 13th prices start at £599.
We also got a look at the Pixel Watch at £339 pounds - this is Google’s first smart watch, it’s also on sale from next Thursday and next year we’ll get a Pixel tablet.
Replika - with a ‘K’ is an artificial intelligence tool, delivered via an app which claims to offer companionship.
Marketing for the platform promises Replika is ‘always ready to chat when you need an empathetic friend’.
It’s not much more than a chatbot - you see an animated image of a person and interact by talking into your phone.
But what’s it doing with all the information it picks up from conversations you have with it, is your data safe and what about the conversations themselves…are they always going to be appropriate ?
Well the makers believe it’s only suitable for users 17 years and over but of course some younger users may try to set up profiles and there are serious questions being asked about whether forming an emotional connection with what basically amounts to an algorithm is healthy.
Be sure to read the small print and treat these AI bots with the same caution you would anything else on line.
The Elon Musk/Twitter saga has taken another twist.
He’s now saying he is willing to buy the company, if his original agreed price is accepted.
I fully accept more twists and turns on this one.
And 2 of the biggest names in mobile are cosying up to each other - Vodafone and 3 hope to agree a merger by the end of this year.
Disappointing news for children everywhere - Spongebob Squarepants and Paw Patrol are GONE from Netflix in the UK.
The deal to show the shows on the streaming giant has expired, there’s no word of a new deal and the shows are no longer available - only some of the feature length Spongebob films can be watched.
Netflix viewers outside the UK can still enjoy the shows and there is the possibility of a new contract which would bring them back.
Meantime, Paramount Plus is showing Spongebob Squarepants on its streaming platform.
A landmark EU rule has been passed standardising mobile phone chargers by 2024.
It means Apple’s iPhone will have to use USB C connectors rather than its own lightning port.
The ruling also applies to ear buds e readers and many other electronic chargers - the UK has previously said it won’t follow the EU and insist on a common charging cable although many devices sold here already use USB C.
And an interesting case at the US Supreme Court challenging the notion that tech companies should not be held responsible for content posted by their users.
I’ll keep you posted with how the unfolds but it could have big implications.
Can concrete go digital?!
Well, sort of.
A platform is using artificial intelligence and machine learnings to make the use of concrete more efficient.
It’s responsible for about 8 percent of all global carbon emissions - the process of making it and moving it around uses large amounts of energy.
Cloud Cycle is a new start up which uses sensors in the truck to monitor fresh ready mix concrete, ensuring it’s delivered in the most efficient way and reducing waste.
Some interesting news from the financial technology sector.
Currensea is a debit card that removed foreign exchange fees for international payments - it’s just received 4 and a half million pounds in funding to fuel expansion plans.
And the Mumsnet website, famous for its parenting forums and blogs has partnered with a digital bank and pans to offer financial services from next year.
I’d expect to see more of this through the financial crisis - anyone who’s built up a large audience could raise revenue from passing on deals and discounts to visitors but how to do it while keeping your independence and credibility is the challenge.
‘Moonshot’ is the word used in the tech industry for huge, innovative projects aimed at finding the next big leap forward for society.
Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook have all had experimental projects or innovation prizes in the past..but now it looks the the Big Tech Moonshot era is over with the companies pulling back, and tightening their budgets.
Focussing on their core mission seems to be the buzzword - whether that’s messaging apps, advertising or, artificial intelligence.
On the subject of AI the European Commission is proposing new rules to help people harmed by digital devices like drones, self driving cars and voice assistants.
The plans would set limit on how the machines could be used and would make it easier for victims to sue if they’re harmed by the technology.
And an interesting new Kindle from Amazon - it’s called the Kindle Scribe - not only can you read with it, you can also write on it too - the company says it’s ideal for note taking and scribbles which until now have been quite difficult to do on tablets and e-readers.
Google is to close down its cloud gaming service Stadia in January.
The company announced the move - which was widely expected - in a blog post.
It’s promised to refund all hardware and software purchases made through the Google Store and users will be able to continue playing games until the service closes.
Google says the service hadn’t gained the popularity it hoped for but that the system and concept had been proven to work and would be redeployed elsewhere.
Yesterday we talked about Netflix planning to stream games - I don’t know who they’ll partner with but Google certainly sees opportunities to let other providers use its infrastructure to stream games, without the need for a console.
Liz Truss was all over social media yesterday with clips from her local radio interviews shared widely.
The Prime Minister’s strategy of lots of individual interviews rather than one big national piece backfired as users shared clips of tricky moments from the interviews, some going so far as to make up compilations of the best/worst bits.
Finally TikTok has reported a huge jump in the number of fake accounts on its platform.
It’s also revealed it removed 113 million video clips this spring which broke its rules - this is TikTok trying to show that it is capable of policing the platform itself and perhaps doesn’t need regulation.
Could we end up playing video games on Netflix in the future?
The streaming giant is setting up its own games studio, which will be based in Finland.
There are more than 220 million Netflix subscribers around the world but the company has lost users and revenue since the end of the pandemic.
It’s also facing competition from movie studios launching their own streaming services and taking some of their films and TV shows OFF Netflix.
Investing in its own content is part of the solution but it’s also slowly but surely been doing more with video games - it’s bought a couple of small studios already and is thought to be planning more games based on its TV shows.
Facebook owner Meta has taken action to shut down two misinformation operations based in Russia and China which had aimed to use Facebook and Instagram to influence public opinion about the invasion of Ukraine and other political issues.
Meta says the operation began in May and involved a network of more than 60 websites mocked up to look like real news outlets and then used Facebook pages to spread the links.
This is one of the risks when so many of us get our news from an algorithm based system.
Powerful comments from Apple chief Tim Cook who’s criticised his industry and his own company over the lack of women in leadership roles in the sector.
In an interview with the BBC’s Zoe Kleinman, Cook said there’s no excuse for the lack of women at the table at the world’s tech firms and says technology won’t achieve nearly what it could achieve without a more diverse workforce.
He also spoke about the virtual worlds known as the Metaverse and predicts in the future people will wonder how we lived without augmented reality.
Artificial Intelligence is also in the news right now - with TikTok creator Milan Jaram reimagining Simpsons characters using AI and putting them into unlikely situations, such as the Simpsons characters posing as Calvin Klein models.
And some interesting advice on the USA Today website sharing ideas to give your phone a new lease of life - if you can’t afford an upgrade but want to improve its performance.
The article explains how to replace the battery on some models, how to free up memory space, make it run faster and remember many phone providers will offer trade in deals - so that new one you’ve got your eye on might not be as out of reach as you think, as always - shop around and get the deal that works for you.
A change on Instagram and I think it’s one most users will welcome - videos under 60 seconds using the ‘Stories’ feature will no longer be split into 15 second segments.
Up until now there was a split second gap between the segments - that’s going to end, making for a more seamless viewing experience.
TikTok meanwhile sees Google in its sights and wants to become the starting point for users looking to discover something on the internet.
In short, TikTok is becoming a search engine.
As part of the shift, you’ll now have 2 thousand 200 characters in the description section of videos, making it easier to describe what your video is about and making it easier for people to find.
Previously the character limit was just 300 characters.
And while we often focus on high tech social media scams and internet safety I have been hearing about loads of scams through landline phones.
Either referring to missed online shopping deliveries, vaccine appointments, or IT problems….be especially wary of anything asking you to press a particular number on your keypad or to phone a number to put things right.
If you’re not absolutely certain it’s genuine, just hang up.
Are you using Emojis all wrong?
Research out today from language learning platform Preply claims young people have developed their own, secret Emoji language.
Apparently using a crying laughing emoji is old hat now and all the kids use the ‘skull’ emoji to show something is hilarious, ‘so funny I could die’.
An emoji of a goat means ‘Greatest Of All Time’, clapping hands can be used in a sarcastic way, answering back to criticism, the information desk person is often used as a shrug, like ‘who knows’ or ‘I don’t care’ and a bee is often used to refer to pop star Beyonce.
So now you know.
domo.com have published their annual ‘every minute of the day’ internet data infographic.
Among the findings - shoppers spend almost half a million dollars on Amazon every minute, there are 1.1 million swipes on Tinder, 90 million dollars of Cryptocurrency are purchased and more than 230 million emails sent.
It’s the 10th year the data has been released and there are some fascinating comparisons between how things were at the beginning and how they are today.
As the nights draw in remember technology can help with the smooth running of a secure home.
Smart bulbs can be set via an app to automatically come on at dusk to give the impression someone is in.
Just make sure they’re compatible with any other smart devices you might have in the home - many - but not all - of the modern brands are inter compatible so you won’t need a ‘bridge’ to connect to your router - but be sure to read the small print and if you’ve any doubt, ask the retailer.
Some will also work with a voice assistant so you won’t even need to use your phone to turn the lights on and off.
There are smart outdoor security options too, like the Google Nest range of cameras and Amazon’s ‘Ring’ doorbells.
Be sure to comply with privacy rules - you’re supposed to put a sticker on your window telling people they may be on film and make sure any video or audio recording devices are set to only capture people who are within the boundary of your property.
Again, read the small print and follow the manufacturers instructions.
Almost every day now we’re seeing articles about the decline of Facebook and its parent company Meta.
The latest comes from the Wall Street Journal which reports Instagram Reels are failing to have the impact the company hoped for and are already in decline.
The feature was launched in 2019 in response to the rise of TikTok.
It appears to have done nothing to slow the rise of TikTok, the newspaper claims it’s so bad Meta has now stopped reporting how long people are spending engaging with Instagram.
TikTok seems to be on an unstoppable trajectory to becoming the number 1 social media platform, the Queen’s funeral was live streamed on TikTok yesterday - it’s now about much more than simply entertainment.
I think this will impact traditional television - many people sit and watch TikTok in the evening the way they used to watch mainstream television - but there’s far fewer adverts and it’s an individual experience rather than a shared one.
Could there be a day where there’s a ‘best of’ TikTok channel on TV, and will the company keep advertising light or try to cash in on the popularity it’s enjoying?
The start of the college and university term means now is a great time to get a deal on a laptop if you’re looking for one.
Many of the major retailers have discount deals on some of the big brands, including Chromebooks.
High quality graphics cards, webcams and processor speeds are what pushes up the price - if you’re not going to use it for playing games then you’re likely to be able to get what you need at a much lower budget.
I caught an interesting article in the Sunday Times over the weekend suggesting Facebook’s taking a hit as lots of 3rd party organisations drop the ‘log in with Facebook’ button.
All manner of websites offered it as a convenient way of accessing your account but more and more appear to be dropping it because of privacy concerns.
And a new feature for TikTok users.
TikTok NOW will prompt uses to share a selfie or video using the front and back camera at a random time each day, there’s going to be a separate TikTok Now app with additional privacy for Under 16s.
People from all walks of life, from every corner of the world have taken to social media to share memories and express their condolences following the death of Queen Elizabeth The Second.
The official Royal Family Instagram account shared a black and white photograph of The Queen as news of her death was announced, followed by a statement from King Charles The Third saying his family would be comforted and sustained by the knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.
Technology played an important role throughout Queen Elizabeth The Second’s reign.
She broadcast annual Christmas messages on television and under her leadership the royal family was among the first organisations of its type to see the potential of a YouTube channel.
The official Royal Family channel has almost one million subscribers.
The British Monarchy’s official website, royal.uk has had all its content temporarily removed with a message announcing the Queen’s death, a picture of her on the throne and explains that the website is unavailable with appropriate changes are made.
It’s expected, in time, to feature an online book of condolence for those who wish to pay their respects.
Apple held its ‘Far Out’ launch event last night and announced the iPhone 14.
There’s also a new set of Airpods, an Apple Watch Series 8 and a new Apple Watch Ultra - a rugged sports watch made from aerospace titanium and a 36 hour batery life - this is made for triathlon and endurance athletes as well as serious explorers - the display has been configured so its easier to see in sunlight.
It’s also designed to operate in extreme temperatures and can emit an 86 decibel siren in an emergency if you need to tell people where you are.
Across the range of Apple mobile devices - improved cameras and screens and a revamped layout.
You’ll get all the details on the Apple website and social media accounts.
Not to be outdone, Facebook owner Meta has announced its own event - the Connect Conference for October 11th where it’s expected to give more details of its moved into virtual reality and ‘the metaverse’.
And there’s lots of speculation about the long term future of Snapchat - the company is laying off 1200 staff, that’s 20% of its workforce and shutting down a number of projects including its mobile games division and its miniature done.
Boss Evan Spiegel says he wants to focus on making money from advertising.
There’s an Apple event tonight at 6pm UK time.
We’re expecting a new iPhone and possible other products - I’m going to predict a surprise from Apple - I think they’ll announce their own dating app and I’m also expecting the numbering of the iPhone to stop with new names used to identify new product releases.
A cat translator app which claims to be able to help cat owners work out what their pets are saying has taken the internet by storm over the last 24 hours.
MeowTalk’s founders claims to have found a formula that can identify a cat’s meows and translate them into human languages.
The app has been downloaded more than 17 million times since launching in Japan and has recorded more than 250 million meows.
One of the team behind MeowTalk worked on the Alexa smart speaker product development - the company says it wants to strengthen the bond between cats and humans.
Do you watch YouTube videos at 1.5 or double speed?
You’re not alone - the platform says users save a combined 900 years of video time each day by watching videos faster than the default.
YouTube says 1.5 speed is the most popular.
People in France with swimming pools in their back gardens could be cursing technology right now.
The French government is using artificial intelligence to scan aerial photographs - if they find properties with swimming pools that are undeclared and aren’t paying enough tax, then the owners can expect a fine.
Since the scheme launched last October, more than 20 thousand undeclared swimming pools have been discovered.
Dating apps aren’t the only way to find love online.
A fascinating article on wired.com explains how some people are turning their backs on apps and baring their souls on publicly available Google Docs.
Although never built for dating, Google Docs are extremely versatile - easy to share, free to use, can include photos and as much text and information you like.
The article even includes one case study who added testimonials from former partners.
‘Date Me Docs’ as they’re called don’t rely on algorithms and don’t force users to fit themselves into any particular format.
Would you give it a go?
A big step forward for gaming as Google’s Stadia service is now offering completely free time limited trials of some games - with nothing to download and no sign up.
All you need is a Google account and visit stadia.google.com
Games available for trial include Wreckfest, Cities - Skyline, PacMan, Far Cry 6, World War Z and many more.
Google says it wants playing games to be as easy and seamless as watching a YouTube video.
Linkedin users have a new option when managing comments on their posts.
If someone says something particularly useful or interesting, you can ‘pin’ their reply so people will see it at the top of the thread.
Twitter is said to be testing an identical feature.
socialmediatoday.com also reports that Linkedin might soon allow posts to be scheduled - right now you’d have to use a third party tool like Hootsuite to schedule on Linkedin.
And now we’re into September it might be worth keeping an eye on xmasclock.com
A big step forward for Twitter that might make it a more pleasant place to be - Twitter Circle is now available to everyone and lets you set up private group chats of up to 150 people.
Twitter says Circles will let users have discussions without worrying about random people hijacking the discussion and making them feel bad.
You’ll now see an option to ‘share with a smaller crowd’ when you start writing a Tweet on a mobile device.
Here’s another option if you’re looking for more privacy around your emails.
Duck Duck Go made its name as a search engine that doesn’t track its users - now it’s offering a private email service.
You can access it using the DuckDuckGo app or extensions for the Firefox, Chrome or Edge browsers.
Snapchat is the latest social media platform to launch a Dual Camera option - where users can share a picture of what they’re looking at and their reaction to it all at the same time.
The feature first emerged on the BeReal app and seems to have set off a trend.
It’ll soon be possible to listen to podcasts while you’re using Twitter.
The app is rolling out a new ‘audio’ tab which will highlight podcasts alongside Twitter’s ‘Spaces’ material.
Podcasts will be grouped according to subject matter - given Twitter’s emphasis on real-time content, I’d expect to see podcasts relating to television shows and sports events given a prominent position while those shows and events are actually taking place.
6pm on the 7th of September is an important date for Apple fans.
That’s when the company is expected to launch the iPhone 14, tech experts are also expecting a new Apple Watch and possibly an upgrade to the iPad.
At some point, I expect Apple to drop the numbers on the iPhone, I think they might take some people by surprise and call this one something other than ’14’ - if they do, remember who told you first.
And it’s taken a while but computer manufacturer Dell has now completely closed all its operations in Russia.
The hardware company has been winding things down since the attack on Ukraine in February.
As the cost of living crisis intensifies something you’ll really want to avoid is becoming a victim of cyber crime.
Here are a few quick tips to stay safe.
First and most important - anytime you’re asked for a password - use a strong, secure one, don’t share it with anyone and don’t repeat it anywhere else.
Password manager apps can help keep things organised for you - they encrypt the actual password.
If you’re coming up with passwords yourself, 3 random objects with some numbers and a punctuation mark at the end is a good approach.
Next - anti virus software on your computer and your phone. If reading up on this stuff online is a confusing mess - ask the retailer you bought the device from for their recommendation.
You want something that roots out malicious files you’ve inadvertently downloaded but that doesn’t get in the way of the smooth running of your machine.
You might end up paying for this protection but it shouldn’t be expensive and even low level, free protection is better than nothing.
If you do end up with a virus or malware on your device doing a Google search and downloading a recommended ‘fix’ can sometimes make things worse. Many viruses are actually contained within these so called ‘solutions’ - it might be better to keep the device switched off, disconnected from the internet and use another device to get hold of an IT repair specialist.
And I always recommend turning on 2 step verification wherever you see it as an option.
There’s more evidence of computer manufacturers taking the environment seriously.
Acer has introduced a new Chromebook in its eco friendly Vero line.
The Chromebook Vero 514 which has been designed to be repaired and recycled - much of it has been built with recycled plastic.
The Vero 514 goes on sale across Europe in November although it will be a couple of hundred pounds more than some of the cheapest Chromebook but with much of it user serviceable and upgradeable - it could end up lasting a good bit longer.
BeReal has now hit 10 million daily active users.
The app is finding fans with people fed up with all the posing and fakery on Instagram - you just post one picture every day of exactly what you can see at a particular moment.
Could this be the cure for our social media overload?
And if you’re looking to set up your children with their own Google account but want to control what they access and how long they spend in front of a screen - check out Google’s free Family Link app - I’ll do more on protecting young people online next week.
What’s your opinion on voice notes when you’re sending messages to friends, family or business contacts?
All the major messaging apps - including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and even Linkedin let you hold down the mic button, record a message with your voice and then send it off.
It can help with productivity - for example if you’re out a walk and want to explain something to someone, it’ll likely be quicker to say it than to type it.
But perhaps it’s not so convenient for the person on the receiving end - they can’t ‘skim read’ your message but have to listen to it in real-time.
So, if you are sending a voice note - get straight to the point and keep them concise.
Let me know what you think on the hashtag DigitalMinuteUK.
And here’s one for musicians who might be looking to do a spot of busking - perhaps you’re a student looking to top up your income.
The iRig 2 Mobile Guitar Interface lets you plug your guitar into your smartphone where you can record using software like GarageBand, or add all sorts of effects with the likes of the Amplitude app.
You can then output the new sound straight into an amplifier - so instead of carrying several effects pedals around with you, you just need a tiny box and an app on your phone.
Connecting the human brain directly to machines sounds like the stuff of science fiction but it could be closer than you think.
Elon Musk is trying to raise money for his own brain chip implant company Neuralink.
It’s been reported that Musk has held talks with another company in the sector about investing in his own firm to try and move things forward.
Musk is said to be frustrated at the lack of progress with trials and achieving regulatory approval for the devices.
Facebook’s efforts to bring the Metaverse to us all - the virtual world where we al interact with lifelike versions of ourselves through virtual reality headsets has hit a few snags.
The technology just isn’t good enough or affordable enough for most people to bother with it and those that have ventured onto Facebook’s Horizon Worlds have been left fairly disappointed.
The company continues to spend billions on the project and has just released a new promotional video showcasing what it COULD all look like but I think it’s all a big “if” rather than when.
Remember in technology there are often no prizes for being ‘first’ with a new development.
Book lovers listen up, there’s a new hashtag taking social media by storm and it’s having a huge impact on the way books are sold.
BookTok is a TikTok community with more than 70 billion views.
People use hashtag booktok to share reviews and recommendations and connect with other books lovers, on TikTok.
It’s almost like a giant online book club and one side effects is that books published years ago are getting talked about and shooting to the top of the current best sellers list.
Some of the books that go viral are out of print and hard to find - so if you’ve got one of them, you could make decent money selling it 2nd hand.
I’ve just picked up this warning from the United States about malicious QR codes being stuck to objects and buildings, that cause security issues when people scan them.
We all know the dangers of clicking links in emails from scammers but would you be so careful if you saw a QR code on the side of a parking meter? Or on a shop window?
Be vigilant at all times, if you’ve any doubt, don’t scan the QR but try to check to see if it’s legitimate.
Really important information for Apple users over the weekend there after a security breach was discovered putting certain iPhones, iPads and laptop and desktops at risk.
An urgent security patch was released and all Apple users are being urged to make sure they install it.
Any attackers that knew about the vulnerability could send users to a website and then take complete control of their machine.
So check your settings and if there are updates available - be sure to take them.
And remember this applies to Apple phones, tablets and Apple computers.
Google has announced another update to its algorithm, which will see it prioritise high quality websites aimed at humans rather than spammy sites designed to get higher up the Google rankings.
Google says sites that do nothing more than aggregate other content will be downgraded.
And how do you fancy FIFA 23 for 5 pence?
Don’t get too excited - a decimal point in the wrong place saw the bargain available on the EA Sports webstore in India at a 99% discount.
The error has now been fixed but customers who were quick enough to buy the game at the incredibly low price will be able to keep it.
Flip phones were big for a while in the years before the iPhone but they’re slowly but surely making their way back, along with something very new - foldable phones.
Apple hasn’t stepped into this territory yet so it’s giving the likes of Samsung a good run at it with some of its devices and of course these are all running the Android operating system.
Samsung’s head of mobile recently said ‘the mainstream moment for foldable smartphones is here’ and analysts reckon the market is going to grow to 4 times it current size in the next 3 years.
The more expensive the phone, the more likely it is to be a foldable or flip phone - the question is, who’ll come out on top?
Other devices worth a look, according to ZDNET.com include Motorola’s RAZR line and the Mix Fold 2.
Foldable and flip phones give manufactures and users much more flexibility with the screen, which given they’re often used for 2 things at once, such as watching a video while scrolling social media - makes sense.
One thing mobiles still aren’t great at is multi tasking and having 2 windows open at once, so it’s no surprise these devices are growing in popularity.
Saving money is an absolute must for many of us right now and of course technology can help.
It starts with keeping track of what you’re actually spending and it might be that your bank’s website or app if they have one, can actually do some of this for you.
Some have an online tool that automatically tracks what you’re spending on groceries, fuel and so on and puts each expense into the right category. It might be as simple as just logging in and looking at it.
Other apps worth a look include Mint, Revolut, Moneyhub and Emma.
Ideally, you would want something that connects into your bank account which is going to save you the hassle of entering transactions manually.
Once you’re tracking the spend, you can looking for opportunities to cut back and make savings - some of the apps will also keep track of online subscriptions you have.
Some of those apps I mentioned are free and some are paid for - so shop around and take advantage of free trials.
For advice, you’ve probably seen Martin Lewis the Money Saving Expert on television, he has a website too and for completely free, impartial debt advice there’s www.stepchange.org
Using the power of social media to buy in bulk or negotiate group discounts is also worth considering - if you’re in a community WhatsApp group for example, it might be that you can secure significant savings for everyone, if you can agree on what to buy and where to go.
If you’re interested in a career in nursing, there’s an unlikely source of information about the reality of life on the wards - the TikTok hashtag ‘NursesOfTikTok’.
It’s had an amazing 10.8 billion views and features medical professionals sharing advice, medical information and some of the best examples of nursing work.
Patient safety group Radar Healthcare has put together a list of some for he most informative and engaging UK nursing TikTok accounts, including @tiktoknurseUK and @amydarkins6.
Fans of original Pop Idol star Darius Danesh Campbell have been remembering his talents and personality on social media, after his family announced he’d died at the age of just 41.
Among the clips being shared is his original audition where he stunned the judged with his rendition of Britney Spears ‘Baby One More Time’.
And a heads up if you’re on a low income and certain benefits, from next Monday it’ll be easier for you to get lower cost broadband.
New legislation means you’ll be able to ask broadband providers if you quality for a lower tariff - up until now consumers had to do all the work and prove they were entitled to the discount.
Heads up Amazon Prime users, you now have less than one month until the price increase comes in.
15 September is the date - from that point on it’s going to be £8.99 a month - that’s a £1 increase or £95 if you pay for the whole year at once.
Amazon do point out that being a Prime user does get you access to some of the Prime Music and Video streaming content - obviously they hope that you maybe cut back on other streaming service you might use.
There are a lot of people who still think Prime just gets them free or discounted delivery.
Embarrassing news for Microsoft which has revealed just how badly its Xbox One console got beaten by the PS4.
The company hadn’t released sales figures for several years but it’s revealed today in court documents that Sony sold more than twice as many of its products.
Analysts expect the Nintendo Switch to overtake Sony sometime this year and become the world’s most popular console.
Now could YouTube be the answer to the multitude of streaming service and platforms some of us have ended up using for different shows or sports events.
The Wall Street Journal reports plans are afoot that would make YouTube a ‘channel store’ so, for example instead of individuals singing up streaming from several entertainment companies and downloading separate apps, they would sign up via YouTube and access everything through that.
Could be interesting and one to keep an eye on.
Believe it or not there’s a Pokemon World Championships and it’s taking place in London, for the first time later this week with a 4 day event starting on Thursday.
Players from around the world will put their Furrets, Pickahus and Bulbasaurs against each other and if you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about you can learn by tuning into the live streams - there’s one for card game battles and another for Pokemon Go players - and it’s all streamed on Twitch at twitch.tv/pokemon
You might have seen ads on social media recently for an app named Google’s App Of The Year.
It’s called Balance and it creates personalised meditation plans.
Other winners include Clementine, a hypnotherapy app for women and Laughscape which provides relaxation through comedy.
Now I mentioned ‘BeReal’ months ago on the Digital Minute and it continues to grow in popularity.
It’s a photo sharing app that reminds you at a random point in each day to share a picture - but only one - of exactly what you can see at that moment.
It’s now grown to about 3 million active users every day and there are signs that Instagram might be taking some of its ideas, including the ability to take a picture using your front and rear cameras at the same time.
It’s called ‘Dual Camera Mode’ and means you can share what you’re looking at and your reaction to it all in one post.
The Google Meet video calling app doesn’t anything like the attention given to Zoom and Microsoft Teams but there are a few new features worth a mention, as reported by TechCrunch.com
Meet now has a live sharing feature which makes it easy to stream music and videos during calls from YouTube and Spotify, you can also play games like Uno and Heads Up..great when you’re chatting with friends and family but perhaps wouldn’t make you popular with the boss if you’re on a work call.
Disney is celebrating profits across its business but the streaming service Disney + is doing particularly well - it now has more subscribers than Netflix.
Users in America who want to watch shows without adverts will see their prices increase - some expect the same to happen here in the UK.
It’s 100 days to go until the World Cup kicks off in Qatar.
Find the official website at qatar2022.qa - it’s packed with details of the stadiums, fixtures, artwork and more.
It’s looks like you’ll soon be able to schedule Instagram posts from within the main app itself.
Until now, it’s only been possible using 3rd party tools or Instagram’s Creator Studio platform but tests are underway which would allow full scheduling of everything - including main Instagram feed posts, stories and reels.
That will make life much easier for small business owners or creatives looking to post more content round the clock without having to be there live.
There’s an interesting tie up between airline easyJet and streaming giant Spotify.
The promotion will provide personalised travel recommendations based on users’ listening habits.
It’s a great example of the value of data - for some it could open up a world of exciting travel opportunities but would you want to share your favourite playlists and does listening to lots of ABBA even mean you would want a holiday in Scandinavia?
And what will it suggest if you listen to ‘Life On Mars’ by Bowie..will easyJet open a new route?
In fairness, you have to opt in and give easyJet permission to access your Spotify history but I think you can expect to see more of this sort of thing and fitness trackers are likely to be another battle ground for brands.
There’s a saying I like that speaks volumes about the pace of technological change in the world today and it is: ‘the jobs your children will do, haven’t been invented yet’.
Well here’s another role that you could never imagine existing just a few years ago.
Marianna Spring has just been appointed as the first ‘Disinformation and social media correspondent’ at the BBC. Marianna says she’ll be investigating the impact of fake news, trolling and all that’s bad with social media. I get the feeling she could be very busy.
And here’s a whopper - Burger King is at the centre of confusion and ridicule on social media after it emailed thousands of customers a blank order email receipt.
It’s not yet known if the fast food giant has had its systems hacked or it it’s made a mistake but some of those affected say they haven’t set up a Burger King account so it could be an internal mistake that’s sent blank orders to the company’s entire marketing database.
Unfortunately, because the orders are blank they can’t be redeemed and so far there’s no explanation from the company itself.
Music looks set to be at the centre of the next big technological battle.
Artificial Intelligence can create music in less than a second and increasingly, our ears can’t tell the difference.
Whether it’s backing music for a film or TV show, a commercial promoting a product or something appearing in the middle of a playlist to get you singing a long, there’s huge interest in what could soon become a multi billion pound new industry.
If you’re interested - have a look at an app called SongStarter which uses AI to create royalty free music and keep an eye on TikTok which is currently running job ads looking for engineers specialising in machine learning and artificial intelligence music creation.
More bad news for Twitter, it’s had to report a security breach which affected 5 and a half million accounts.
And the NHS has confirmed an outage affecting its 111 phone service over the weekend was caused by a cyber attack.
If you’re not one for celebrity gossip, cat videos, motivational gurus and perfect bodies then Pinterest might be the social media platform for you.
The Pinterest share price rocketed this week after the company reported its latest earnings - which show a 9% growth in revenue and a steady number of users.
Those figures are OK in a challenging environment, but what’s got the experts really excited is that Pinterest is making more money on average out of every user - a 17% jump in every region it operates in.
And that’s a big improvement compared to the other social platforms.
In quick news from around the internet - Facebook’s going to put more focus on its ultra short ‘Reels’ video format which already works well on Instagram.
‘UpNext’ is a paid for iPhone and web app designed to help you stop forgetting things you stumble across online.
Whether it’s articles you haven’t read, music you forgot to listen to, a social media thread or anything else, it’ll suggest 5 things you didn’t finish every morning.
And if you’re interested about your privacy online, read the Mashable article headlined ‘Who owns the rights to your face?’ - find it on Twitter on the hashtag digitalminuteUK.
Sometimes, computers stop working - or ‘crash’ for no apparent reason and it’s usually highly frustrating, just when you’re in the middle of something important.
There are a few things to keep an eye on that might help you prevent these incidents happening again.
One of the main ones is the CPU usage - this is the computer’s central processing unit - basically its brain and by clicking in the right place you can see how hard its working.
Sometimes if there’s too much of a strain on your system, programmes might stop working or freeze.
It might be that you lack enough memory for modern software or it isn’t compatible with your device.
Sometimes having a labour intensive programme running but not in use can cause problems and simply being aware of it and closing it down can stop problems occurring with the programme you’re actually wanting to use.
To access the data, on a PC hold down CTRL SHIFT and ESCAPE and choose Task Manager.
Then enter the Performance Tab and you’ll see how much of the CPU is currently being used.
If you are a Mac User, go into the launchpad and click ‘activity monitor’.
You should be able to set things up so you can monitor the CPU stats in a little window at the top of your screen so you’ll see anything that increases the pressure on your system.
Remember modern software often requires modern hardware to run it so if you’re computer is more than 10 years old that is considered pretty dated now and is likely to cause issues.
Have you seen this interactive map that shows the birthplaces of notable people around the world?
Zoom in on your hometown and you’ll see the names of prominent figures from business, politics, sport, science and more.
It’s been put together by researcher Topi Tjukanov pulling data from Wikipedia and other sources.
Check it out on Twitter using at the hashtag digitalminuteUK.
Elon Musk’s ‘Starlight’ satellite internet service has been in the news.
The entrepreneur is launching thousands of satellites to provide high speed internet access in hard to reach areas.
It’s particularly active right now in Ukraine and seems to be effective at getting round attempts from Russia to disrupt Ukraine’s communications systems.
And listen up fans of retro computing - how about an Atari built from Lego?
The 2 thousand 532 piece set builds a model Atari complete with games and joystick - you can’t play games on it but you can use the pieces to recreate scenes from famous games - the Lego Atari 2600 commemorates the 50th anniversary of Atari.
England’s European Championship winning footballers are the toast of social media right now after their nail biting extra time 2-1 win over Germany.
Hashtags including ‘itscomehome’ and ‘womensfootball’ have been trending across Twitter and Instagram alongside of course #lionesses.
Video clips going viral include the players gatecrashing manager Sarina Weigman’s post match press conference and the winning goal from Chloe Kelly.
If you’re interested in finding out more about women’s football on social media, the Lionesses have their own @lionesses Twitter and Instagram accounts and the women’s super league is @barclaysWSL.
In Scotland you can visit scotwomensfootball.com for an overviews of all levels of the game and you’ll find the top flight clubs in the SWPL where the new season kicks off this coming Sunday.
In other digital news today Snapchat has launched a new fund to encourage unsigned musicians to share their music on the platform.
And WhatsApp is attracting controversy for its stance regarding encryption.
The boss of the service says it would never bow to government pressure to weaken security - which could have made it easier for authorities to tackle the spread of illegal images through direct messages.
The discussions are part of the debate around the UK government’s Online Safety Bill which has now been delayed until the autumn.
Let the games begin!
A spectacular Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 opening ceremony has been dominating social media over the last few hours.
One of the major talking points was the giant Brummie Bull which served as the focal point for the show, there’s also widespread praise for Duran Duran who performed, some 40 years on from their first hits.
There’s a partial victory for the campaigners I mentioned earlier this week who were pushing Instagram to go back to its old ways and rely less on algorithms and software.
The platform’s chief Adam Mosseri has acknowledged the criticism and said he thinks they need to take a step back and reassess the reliance on recommended content - many users want to see more from their friends and family and less of what the system thinks they should see.
Important news now for Amazon Prime subscribers - you’re in for a price rise. From September the cost will increase to £8.99 a month, that’s a pound more than it has been.
An annual membership will move from £79 to £95 but that is still 12 pounds cheaper than paying a month at a time.
You might have heard the phrase ‘the great resignation’ to describe the apparent phenomenon where large numbers of people quit their jobs during the COVID lockdown and never went back.
There does seem to be a lot of unfilled vacancies at the moment and something of a scramble on recruitment websites to try to fill them.
That appears to have had a knock on effect on Linkedin - the social network dedicated to careers and work - which is reporting record levels of engagement.
Parent company Microsoft says revenue at Linkedin is up 26% and user sessions increasing 22% over the most recent quarter.
kickstarter.com and other crowd funding websites are always worth a look if you’re interested in new ideas and innovative gadgets - one that’s causing quite a stir at the moment is a family owned company in Brooklyn trying to launch a line of positive, real life action figures.
Heroes - but not superheroes - is their slogan and the first hero in their range - Volodomyr Zelensky the Ukrainian President - the Kickstarter campaign has smashed its target and will be going into production.
And a study of 39 thousand gamers found the length of time they play has no impact on their wellbeing.
Researchers found the average player would have to play for more than 10 hours a day before noticing any difference and for the vast majority gaming has neither a positive nor negative affect on their well-being.
The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony takes place tomorrow - in Birmingham and runs until the 8th of August.
You’ll find the official website at www.birmingham2022.com
The games have a presence on all the major social media accounts and organisers are promoting the hashtag ‘B2022’ and ‘Birmingham2022’.
On TikTok you can check out @commonwealthsport and see athletes from around the world trying their best British accents.
A petition calling for Instagram to be more like Instagram and stop trying to copy TikTok is fast approaching 100 thousand signatures.
The change.org campaign is criticising the home feed which is now based on what an algorithm thinks you want, rather than people who’ve chosen to follow.
When it launched, Instagram was regarded as a place to highlight high quality photography - it’s changed perhaps more than any other platform.
And a giant cashew tree in Brazil has become a social media phenomenon.
Video has emerged showing a large green covered area in the middle of the town - but it’s not a park, it is in fact all one tree.
See it for yourself on Twitter on #digitalminuteUK.
Technology shouldn’t be causing us stress, but sometimes it does.
There’s nothing more frustrating than forgetting a password and having to go through a laborious ‘reset’ process when you want to access something quickly.
‘Password Managers’ are designed to make life easier.
‘Keeper’, ‘Zoho’, ‘LastPass’ and ‘1Password’ are some of the well known trusted sites to help with password management.
Some are free, others with more advanced features are paid for.
They’ll often sync passwords across your devices and encrypt the password itself - it’s a much more reliable solution than picking easy to guess passwords or using the same password across multiple accounts.
Have a look around and find one that suits you.
Facebook’s news feed is getting a new look.
‘Home’ will highlight content from creators that Facebook thinks you’ll enjoy - a bit like TikTok’s ‘for you’ page.
Then there’s a choice of ‘feeds’ which will include recent posts from friends and family, people you choose to follow and regularly interact with.
Ultimately, I think this will make it harder for businesses to get their content seen by customers, unless they pay to Boost their posts.
Long before the internet was an entertainment platform, it was almost entirely built around information and learning.
It can still be an extremely powerful educational tool - like an entire reference library wherever you want it.
‘Think With Google’ is a series of articles focussed on technology, marketing and leadership, designed to provide some thought provoking substance to your daily reading habits.
And now, you can have those articles read out loud to you, with Google’s new audio narration feature.
Find out more at thinkwithgoogle.com
Early next year looks like the launch for Netflix’s cheaper, advertiser supported subscription plan.
The streaming giant is looking for a new strategy to deal with cancellations and to keep its numbers up - the cheaper plan is likely to be built around Netflix original content and won’t have so much of the shows and films made by big studios.
Finally a report in the Wall Street Journal hints at mobile phones getting even thinner with virtual sim cards.
I think this is great news because there’s nothing more annoying than trying to remove the SIM from a phone -the report says it would also make it simpler to have 2 numbers running from the same handset.
Listen up Amazon Prime users - you might notice some changes to the look and feel of the platform next time you log in.
A report on TheVerge.com says Amazon is rolling out a brand new look for Prime Video across many of its apps and devices.
The layout should be less cluttered and more intuitive - in fact it looks quite similar to Netflix and crucially, should be easier to find whatever it is you’re looking for.
Big changes are on the horizon for Snapchat with the launch of its desktop version.
Up until now you could only use the platform using the mobile app but now, if you’re in the UK and using a Chrome browser you’ll be able to visit Snapchat For Web, as long as you have a Snapchat Plus subscription which costs around 3 pounds 30 a month.
Log in through web.snapchat.com and you’ll be able to start conversations on your phone and finish them on your computer, and vice versa - WhatsApp has had this feature for several years.
Much of our technology would be nothing without Lithium Ion batteries - if you’ve been on a flight recently you’ll know they can be a problem - as they’re at higher risk of catching fire.
Now a Swiss manufacturer has developed a new design that it says reduces that risk by 80 percent - this could have a big impact on the technology of the future.
It’s getting easier to shop inside YouTube.
The video sharing platform has announced a new partnership with Shopify which will let people running Shopify e-commerce websites integrate their products across their YouTube channel.
This should be good news for lots of retailers but you’ll need 1 thousand subscribers on your channel in order to access the new features so now is the time to build up those videos and start making the most of your Youtube channel.
This is also a sign of other players in the tech space coming together to take on the might of Amazon and Facebook and Instagram.
The success of ‘Stranger Things’ which I’ve still never seen is a ray of sunshine for Netflix after a very tough quarter.
The streaming giant has announced it lost 1 million subscribers between April and July - I expect that trend to continue as more and more content creators launch their own streaming platforms.
And if you’re working from home and using 2 screens for your computer - tell me if you think this is true - researchers at the University of Utah say employees using a 2nd monitor save 2 and a half hours in productivity time every day if they use it for all their tasks.
I certainly find it helps but I’m not sure it’s THAT useful.
Remember you can get in touch with the digital minute anytime - just email colin@colinkelly.net
A friend of mine got a fright the other day when she found an entry in her Google calendar from someone she didn’t know.
I had to explain to her that by default, Apple, Google and Microsoft calendars are set up to accept calendar invitations from anyone.
This makes them an easy tactic for spammers and scammers, especially if the calendar invite they send you includes a link.
It’s tempting to click it, thinking it might help explain what the invite is all about.
This, of course is what the spammer wants and it could open you up to all sorts of trouble.
So, treat entries in your calendar with the same care you would an unsolicited email or text message.
You can stop this happening at all by going into the settings and under ‘add invitations to my calendar’ change it from ‘from everyone’ to ‘when I respond to the invitation in an email’, and this will keep you safe.
Facebook owner Meta is one step closer to taking full control of GIF giant GIPHY.
A 400 million dollar takeover deal was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority and is now in court, there’s a good result for Meta which should smooth the way for the deal to go ahead.
And TV entertainer Michael Barrymore is the latest celebrity to join TikTok - he’s quickly growing a following and sharing bloopers and outtakes from some of his TV shows.
Google Maps is to start providing tailored directions depending on what type of vehicle you’re driving.
A new software update will take into account hybrid and electric vehicles and offer the most efficient path.
Users will be asked to give details of their vehicle and the experience will be optimised from then on.
On the subject of cars - Amazon Garage is a useful feature if you’re using the online shopping giant.
If you’re browsing for products but aren’t sure they’ll fit your vehicle you can enter the registration number and it’ll only show products which will be suitable.
I know that other retailers are doing this on their websites - it isn’t just Amazon.
The intense heat is going to be the big story through the first half of this week.
As well as the website at metoffice.gov.uk the Met Office has an official weather app and you can stay on top of the latest advice and warnings by checking @metoffice on Twitter.
Other weather providers online include weather.com and accuweather.
Please do stay safe and if you are stuck working in front of a screen remember you might get some relief by plugging a USB desk fan into your computer.
Stay safe and there’s more tomorrow.
In this special episode of the Comsteria podcast, Colin Kelly explores the potential of a more immersive internet of the future and share some ideas regarding how we might choose to represent ourselves online.
Want to know more about The Metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrency?
Join our live, jargon free webinar coming soon. Find out more at the Metaverse page on the Comsteria website.
The cost of living crisis is real and it’s probably going to get tougher before it gets better so let’s see if our technology can help us.
The first thing to look at is what you’re not using.
That could be old phones, laptops and accessories gathering dust in a drawer.
Or DVDs and CDs you never play.
Now, there are many web sites which will buy them for you but they tend not give you much money unless they’re extremely rare.
And of course you could list then for sale yourself using sites like eBay and GumTree.
But asking around your friends and family might be even better as you’ll avoid the fees associated with some of these sites and might even get more for it.
It’s the same with phones and computers - musicmagpie, envirophone and mazuma are among many sites who will buy old tech but think about within your family instead of that relative getting a new phone, maybe you’ve an old one they could take instead.
And when it comes to billing - sometimes there are savings to be made by going paperless and signing up for email billing.
If you’re fortunate enough to be able to pay upfront - phones are often cheaper if you buy the handset outright and then choose a SIM only package - you might find your broadband provider even gives you free mobile sims.
And as I always say, there are millions of pounds sitting right now in unused subscriptions - whether it’s online newspapers or streaming services make sure you cancel anything you aren’t using - especially free trials that auto renew.
It’s getting really nasty now between Twitter and Tesla founder Elon Musk - who’s walked away from his offer to buy the social media platform.
A 44 billion dollar deal was on the table - Twitter it’s launched legal action to hold him to his obligations.
I think this mess means either - someone else - probably a mainstream media company will buy Twitter on the cheap - if a deal can’t be done, I think Twitter has a very uncertain medium to long term future.
Here’s a quick Microsoft Word shortcut.
Ever got a document in block caps and you want to change it all to lower case or put capitals at the start of sentences?
Highlight the text you’re working with and hold SHIFT while you press F3.
Press it a few times and it’ll cycle round serval difference options.
And it’s been a while since I mentioned cost of living money saving tech tips.
A big one right now is to threaten to leave whether it’s a software subscription or service provider.
I’ve seen discounts as large as 30% for life - these companies will give up a lot in return for your continued loyalty.
I’d also advise making sure you’re not paying for the same thing twice.
For example - the latest version of Final Cut Pro has built in automatic captions, removing the need to pay for another provider.
More money saving tech tips on tomorrow’s bulletin.
It’s getting hot, and depending on where you’re listening, possibly very very hot.
And IT equipment doesn’t really like intense heat.
Most technology will carry warnings about avoiding direct sunlight and keeping them in areas where the temperature is below 25 degrees.
If you’re going to be working outdoors, consider backing up essential files before you go and don’t walk from a cool indoor space to a hot outdoor area with the laptop on. Let it adjust to the new temperature before starting it up.
Heat can do permanent damage to a hard drive.
Be careful about what is going on around your equipment - make sure air outlets are free from any obstruction, keep dust away from air vents and don’t put anything on top of computers while they’re running.
In hot weather, keep laptops OFF your lap. Lift them up, on a professional stand, a range of suppliers make ‘cooling stands’ which let air circulate all around the machine, some even have additional fans.
And remember working outside will be a challenge if you can’t see what is happening on your screen.
Consider a ‘hood’ for your laptop or an anti glare screen.
Users of Apple’s FaceTime video calling service might have noticed a new feature.
It uses artificial intelligence to make it look like you are in fact looking the person right in the eye.
Some people think digitally altered eyeballs look fake, you can turn it off by going to into your FaceTime settings and turning off ‘eye contact’.
The feature has been around since the launch of IOS 14.
Do you use Microsoft Excel and sometimes wonder how it all actually works and what it can do?
Well done @iamclintmurphy on Twitter, he’s put together a list of 10 basics everyone should know, find it on the hashtag DigitalMinuteUK.
If you’re heading overseas on holiday - remember free mobile phone roaming throughout Europe is no longer guaranteed since the UK left the EU.
Roaming charges have returned for some networks and if you’re downloading data that could be costly.
Use WiFi wherever possible and be sure to disable auto downloads when you’re not on WiFi. Or download your music and TV shows before you leave home.
Best advice is to check with your network before you travel so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
One of the most useful Tweets I’ve seen in a long time was published over thew weekend by @G_S_Bhogal - in 40 Tweets he explained 40 useful concepts he thinks we should know about..and these are amazing.
From the laws of science to problem solving, how to handle trolls and beating procrastination and why powerful people lose their grip of reality - it’s an incredible read.
Check it out, on the hashtag DigitalMinuteUK.
Twitter itself once again faces an uncertain future as Elon Musk’s proposed takeover deal looks entirely dead.
The 2 sides couldn’t come to any sort of agreement about the number of fake accounts on the platform.
My opinion is that Musk’s 44 billion dollar takeover was a gross over valuation of what the company is actually worth.
Up until now, anyone using Meta’s virtual reality platform had to use it via a Facebook account.
That rule is being ditched from next month, putting some distance between Meta and the Facebook brand.
Amazon is to start using electric vans and e cargo bikes to make deliveries in Central London - the new vehicles will work out a central hub and be used for the final mile of deliveries, eventually this will spread across the UK.
In America the company is moving ahead with its planned Drone deliveries - Prime Air will take to the skies to deliver packages in Lockeford, California later this year.
Social media has been a place of humour and biting sarcasm over the last 48 hours with all the UK political shenanigans.
I’m not even going to attempt to keep up to date with what’s going on but there is some great humour on Twitter in particular as well as some really high quality explainer videos and threads helping us keep track of what’s going on - remember all the high profile journalists have their own Twitter accounts where you can get coverage in more detail.
If you are after something a bit lighter, then the Downing Street cat has its own, unofficial, parody Twitter account - find it @number10cat.
The DVLA is warning drivers to bet aware of websites promoting paid for services which you can easily do yourself, for free on the DVLA website.
Tasks such as renewing driving licences for people over 70 and help with V5C registration certificates can all be done yourself, for free at the official DVLA.gov.uk site
Several websites have emerged - where they quite legitimately offer to do it for you - but take a fee - the DVLA wants drivers to know they don’t have to go down that paid route.
And some new research just out from the team at Sprout Social looking at the best times to post content on social media.
They suggest you’ll get the best result on Facebook posting early in the morning, and content shared on Tuesdays between 10am and 12noon also performs well.
There are insights for Twitter to - the research is based on US time zones and values according to industry sectors but you can get the full report on the Sprout Social website.
TikTok is hitting back at reports it’s cooling on the idea of live shopping through its app.
Widespread reports yesterday quoted an unnamed TikTok source saying sales figures had been disappointing and a planned roll out of the feature was on ice - the company says it never planned to launch in continental Europe in the first half of this year and it remains committed to it’s UK service.
Certainly the TikTok website is still encouraging brands and influencers to ‘open a shop’ at shop.tiktok.com
The Consumer Technology Association has picked dup some new patent filings from Apple which suggest a future range of MacBoooks could offer wireless charging for iPhone and keyboards that can sense multiple inputs. There’s also the potential for MacBooks to be made from materials such as ceramics and glass instead of aluminium.
And I think we’ll be hearing more about ‘lock screen content’ in the coming months.
Rather than unlocking your phone, choosing an app and then seeing content, the future might involve giving one app control over your lock screen and having it serve a rotating feed of news headlines, quizzes, games and pictures - think of it as a really clever screensaver - and yes, it’ll almost certainly contain ads as well.
EA Sports won’t be making any more of the FIFA video game series but they do still hold the rights to Formula 1 video games and the new official F1 2022 is out now and getting great reviews.
You can play on Xbox, Playstation and PC.
After some serious issues around privacy in its early days TikTok has enjoyed huge growth over the last couple of years but this looks like a rare mis-step from the company.
The Financial Times reports TikTok has abandoned plans to launch its own in-app shopping experience.
‘TikTok Shop’ launched last year and, similar to QVC featured brands and influencers showcasing products in live videos, which consumers could then click to buy.
It was hailed as the future of shopping but seems to have suffered problems and failed to hit targets.
The FT quotes a source saying the market just isn’t there yet.
And as we move through summer you might be on holiday, going away somewhere or just looking to spend time in the garden at night - it’s useful to know when it’s going to get dark.
The easiest way to find out is to simply type ‘when will it get dark’ into Google and it’ll display an answer for exactly where you are right now.
We’re back live with your 60 second tech update.
Starting with news for gamers - if you have a Samsung TV you’ll be able to access its new Gaming Hub.
This is another move towards gaming without a console - grab a Bluetooth controllers and pair a set of headphones and you’ll be able to play titles from Xbox Cloud Gaming, Google’s Stadia and Nvidia GeForce Now - we’re told Amazon’s Luna platform is coming soon.
Snapchat has really been overtaken by the rise of Instagram and TikTok in the last few years but it’s still hanging around with around 332 million people around the world using it every day.
Now it’s trying to persuade them to PAY for additional content.
Snapchat+ features what the company calls ‘exclusive, experimental and pre release feature’ - it costs 3 dollars 99 a month and the UK is included in the countries getting the new features first.
70s rock stars Crosby Stills and Nash have put their music back on Spotify, 5 months after they quit in protest at podcaster Joe Rogan’s comments on COVID.
Neil Young’s music remains OFF the platform.
One big criticism thrown at Linkedin is that it’s slowly but surely becoming more like Facebook and what was supposed to be a serious business network is becoming, well, another place full of nonsense and ‘here’s a funny cat video’.
If that’s you, you won’t like this because a ‘funny’ reaction is being added to Linkedin. The company says it’s one of the most requested features and they’re happy to add it, because they know humour has a place in business.
Another search engine worth a mention if you’re looking for an alternative to big names like Google.
This one is called ‘Brave’, find it at search.brave.com - it days it doesn’t track you, the phrases you search for or anything you click. It also claims not to collect any data on users - it’s independent, private and anonymous and seems to have fewer ads than other search engines.
DuckDuckGo is another alternative to consider.
Finally with school holidays coming up and unpredictable weather you might be looking for something TV shows and movies to watch.
agoodmovietowatch.com is packed with personal recommendations and movies that only receive a 70% review score or higher.
If you’re into cars you’ll like this.
The Ford Motor Company is uploading its entire archive to a dedicated website.
The Ford Heritage Vault features amazing images, stories and data from throughout its 119 year history.
It includes promotional material and adverts along with memories and statistics about some of the best loved cars from the brand’s history.
You can even download the images for your own personal use.
It’s an American site and emphasises the classic cars of the 50s and 60s but if you use the search features you’ll find the humble 1990 4 door Escort and others like it.
Tell the car lover in your life and visit www.fordheritagevault.com
And social media users fed up being bombarded with posts about bitcoin and cryptocurrency - remember you can mute other people’s accounts, particular words or entire topics.
On Instagram choose ‘settings - privacy and then hidden words’
On Twitter click ‘Privacy and safety - and look in ‘content you see’ and ‘mute and block.
More tomorrow.
One of the most frustrating things in life is trying to co-ordinate an event involving several people where you have to choose a date that suits everyone.
This is the sort of challenge computers were made for, and doodle.com is one of the best known software products that offers easy scheduling.
If you’re only going to use it occasionally - there’s a 14 day free trial which might be all you need, after that it’s about 7 pounds a month for the ‘Pro’ plan.
It’ll email everyone involved in your meeting and ask them to choose dates and times they’re available and then tell you the most popular option.
When it’s used properly it can cut down on dozens of emails being sent back and forth.
Other products that do similar things include coda.io which is particularly suited to sharing ideas and discussing agenda items, ‘whenavailable.com' has a FREE plan but it’s limited to 20 guests and there’s also Calendly, SimplyMeet.me, and this doesn’t look quite so smart and clever but you could set up a shared Google Calendar.
It’s nice to remember sometimes what all this technology was actually intended to do - make our lives easier.
If you’re looking for something to do and keen to save money over the summer then today’s quick guide to online deals websites is for you.
And we start with ‘itison.com’ which launched in Scotland but has now expanded to other cities throughout the UK.
You can browse the listings, search, or join and tell is what you’re interested in and receive personalised deals.
There’s everything from afternoon tea to short breaks and hotel stays, concerts, health and beauty treatments and money off shopping vouchers.
There’s also groupon.co.uk which is offering further discounts to new customers - one thing I’ve noticed on Groupon in particular is a move away from high end luxury experiences to more day to day shopping deals and essentials such as socks, tops and even toilet rolls, so long as you don’t mind buying in bulk and storing have somewhere to store them.
As I always say if you live somewhere with space to store 90 toilet rolls I’n not sure you’d need to look for a cheap deal.
Other sites worth a look include VoucherCodes, Wowcher and HotUKDeals.
You’ll always save more if you don’t mind switching to a less known brand and there are further savings if you make group bookings so if you’ve a bunch of friends that can all do the same thing together, you’ll see some of the best deals.
As always, read the small print or ask so you’re clear exactly what you’re buying and when it expires.
TV shows like ‘The Office’ sometimes poke fun and business jargon and corporate management speak and it seems the internet is the place we turn to try and make sense of it.
New research from Preply reveals the 10 most googled business acronyms.
Searches for ‘POC’ have increased dramatically - depending on who is saying it the abbreviation can mean ‘proof of concept’ or ‘point of contact’ and even ‘plan of correction’.
‘KPI’ means Key Performance Indicator followed by SME for small - medium enterprise and EOD which apparently appears a lot in emails and during meetings where work should be completed by the ‘end of the day’.
Instagram is adding new tools designed to support young users with their mental health.
There’s particular concern around teenagers comparing the way they look and the platform will prompt users who repeatedly look at the same type of content, to try something different.
And this from the US where a medical therapeutics company is using 3D printing technology to develop an artificial exterior ear to help patients who are born with a rare condition which means part of their ear is either missing or hasn’t formed correctly.
Today we say good bye to one of the biggest names in the history of the internet.
Microsoft Internet Explorer finally retires today after a 27 year run and of course it was, at one point, the world’s most used web browser.
Microsoft has gradually been phasing out support for the software in favour of its new ‘Edge’ browser.
Latest figures show just 0.45 percent of internet users access the internet through ‘Explorer’, back in 2002 the figure was around 95%.
From today, the company will no longer support Explorer so it won’t receive software updates and security patches - anyone doing so uses it at their own risk and is liable to viruses and other compatibility issues.
Chrome is now by far the most popular web browser with almost 65 percent of the market, followed by Safari and then Edge.
Facebook’s launched a gaming platform similar to Roblox - it’s called Crayta.
It allows users to create virtual worlds and play games, crucially - without a PC.
Any device that can run Facebook, can run Crayta.
An interesting move from buy now pay later app Klarna.
The company has been affected by the economic crisis and conflict in Ukraine and announced a 10% reduction in its workforce, about 700 to 750 people.
The CEO posted the names of around 560 employees who’re losing their jobs, on Linkedin, and encouraged other companies to consider hiring them.
The decision has had a mixed response with some people criticising the announcement although it appears those who’s names were published chose to have them included.
Whatever your opinion, it does seem we’re living through a period of upheaval and just as our personal finances are affected by the economic situation we’re living in, so are some of our employers.
LinkedIn can be a very powerful tool if you find yourself looking for a job and developing a profile means you’ll be able to take advantage and move quickly if you’r eon the receiving end of bad news.
Facebook is another tech giant adapting to the economic squeeze.
Reports claim the parent company Meta is delaying the launch of its planned augmented reality glasses and a dual camera smartwatch. It’s also pulled back on its audio division and move into podcasts.
If I was giving Facebook advise I’d tell them to forget it all and focus on providing customer service to people hacked or locked out of their accounts, or trying to report abusive content.
I’ve spent the weekend playing with the new Mario Strikers Battle League game on the Nintendo Switch.
Think of the colour and madness of Mario Kart but on a football pitch with no rules and you’re half way there.
Special moves such as Hyper Strikes get you two goals at once and you can take your opponents out of action by throwing items at them.
It’s incredibly fast moving and being good at established football games such as FIFA will count for nothing when you start playing this.
We wrapped up last week by talking about domain names if you’re starting a website.
Once you’ve got one of them you’ll need to choose a content management system.
Wordpress, Wix and Weebly are among the most popular but you might also like Squarespace and Shopify if you’re intending to sell things.
Most come with free trials so you can get a feel for them before paying anything - all those site builders will try to sell you their own hosting package as well, although you could shop around and choose your own providers.
The Digital Minute will be back tomorrow and send your tech questions to colin@colinkelly.net
Today we’re looking at getting started with websites.
And one of the first things to look at is the domain name, that’s the address people type in to visit your website.
So, for example google.com or yourname.co.uk - those are domain names.
When the internet began, there were only a few extensions - .com, .net, org., .co and each country had its own, for example .co.uk or .us
But now there are hundreds of extensions, so you could have yourname.live or .hotels or .club or .band or .bingo
Despite the huge variety, the original 4 are still by far the most common and the easiest for audiences to remember.
Domain names can cost as little as £10 a year but premium highly sought after names and some of the new ‘extensions’ can be hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
They are an important part of our identity online but most of the time, having a domain name doesn’t mean your website is any good and it’s not a guarantee of getting visitors to your website, although it can help.
So don’t get hung up on domain names and shop around to get the best deal if you’re buying one.
We’ll talk more about getting started with websites next time on the digital minute.
1960s TV puppet sensation ‘Thunderbirds’ is coming back..and heading straight for digital.
The classic Gerry Anderson creation is now owned by ITV Studios, who’ve announced a partnership with a gaming platform due to launch this summer.
Thunderbirds International Rescue Club is gearing up for launch and promises immersive ‘Metaverse’ experiences, an online game, digital collectibles including NFTs and more.
Despite the enduring popularity of the characters, I’m not sure the traditional Thunderbirds fans are likely to embrace the new technology - but given the series is actually set in the 2060s then I can see why they’re giving it a go.
Fake profiles on Twitter could be set to scupper Elon Musk’s proposed takeover deal.
He’s pushing for more information about fake accounts and bots on the platform - Twitter insists around 5% of accounts are fake, Musk has questioned the figure.
I can’t see this deal going through.
And could Artificial Intelligence help reduce the time we spend in traffic jams?
Researchers from Aston University have created a system that scans live video footage and adjusts the lights to compensate, to keep traffic moving.
Inadequate traffic signalling is a major cause of congestion and in tests, the researchers say this new system worked better than anything else.
Lots to digest for Apple users after the company held its annual World Wide Developers Conference last night.
Among the highlights - you’ll now be able to unsend and edit text messages.
There’s a complete reinvention of the ‘Car Play’ in car entertainment system.
Users of Apple Maps will be able to put in up to 15 stops for a single route and safety features will help people in abusive relationships revoke other people’s access to their locations, account and passwords.
Changes to the iPad operating system will let users multitask with multiple windows - which you can resize - open at one time.
Apple also announced 2 new products - a revamped MacBook Air and a new MacBook Pro running the new M2 chip.
Etsy is a hugely popular online marketplace, particularly for items like home made gifts, jewellery and up cycled furniture.
It’s announced a new purchase protection programme for shoppers which will offer refunds it items arrived damaged, missing or doesn’t march the original description.
There’s protection for sellers too, they won’t be penalised if items go missing in the post, so long as they used a tracking code and follow other terms.
Finally the MG Motor company is the latest big name to go into the meta verse. MG Verse is a virtual space containing a virtual museum, games and a virtual test drive experience.
It’s expected to launch this Christmas.
Google has announced it’s to tidy up its video calling apps.
For the last few years Google Meet has been aimed at business users and Google Duo was like FaceTime for consumers.
Neither has really been as widely used as Google would like with Zoom and Microsoft Teams really dominating the whole sector.
Part of that was Google’s failure to properly explain what the products were, who they were for and how they worked.
Over the next few months, Duo will gain all the additional features which are part of ‘Meet’, including the ability to hold video calls with 100 participants and eventually the ‘Duo’ name will be retired and Google Meet will be the video calling product that Google pushes.
If you’re heading overseas on holiday over the next few weeks then wired.com has picked out its favourite language learning apps along with a pocket translator - you can find that @wired on Twitter.
Linkedin has shared some fascinating data regarding the industries with the most ‘remote working’ job vacancies and how that compares with a year ago.
Tech, IT and Media ranks number 1 with education at 2, followed by Admin and support services.
Get the full story at the LInkedin News page.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations feature heavily across social media at the moment.
The Royal Family has - for a number of years now - embraced social media.
The official Instagram account is sharing a mix of behind the scenes preparation for the events taking place this weekend and highlights from the Queen’s 70 year reign.
You’ll also find official royal family channels on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
On Twitter there’s an interesting mix between people celebrating the Jubilee and others using the occasion to highlight the scale of poverty in the UK along with criticism of Britain’s colonial past.
If you are interested in following the official events on social media the hashtags #PlatinumJubilee and #HM70 are worth watching.
Twitter seems to be pulling back from new features like audio spaces and newsletters - the company is redeploying some staff away from those new initiatives into other areas of the business.
And listen up photographers - Pinterest has just won a legal case in the US where a photographer complained about pictures he’d taken being used alongside adverts.
One of the most powerful figures in all of digital media is leaving her role at Facebook’s parent company.
Sheryl Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008, becoming Chief Operating Officer and was the most senior person in the entire company after founder Mark Zuckerberg.
She effectively ran the company during its most successful period and achieved widespread praise for her ‘Lean In’ book, which aimed to encourage women and girls to speak up more in the workplace.
Sandberg revealed she was stepping down in a post on Facebook - the move will take effect in the autumn but she’ll stay on the board of directors.
I’d expect, in time, her to take on a high profile role somewhere else and certainly wouldn’t rule out frontline politics.
June means Pride month and TikTok has got things underway with a number of special events - including live streams, a showcase of Pride related businesses and special activity around the LA Pride Parade and Festival - you can track it all using the #ForYourPride.
One more before I go - check out Quora for some fascinating answers to some of the world’s weirdest questions - that’s Quora.
But remember, just because it’s on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s true!
Business website Bloomberg has published fascinating insight into Google’s attempts to battle Amazon for online shopping.
The search giant has never really had a a strong e-commerce strategy but now it’s changing direction and trying again.
Google wants to make it easier for customers to find what they want to buy - and then buy it - without having to go to 3rd party websites.
One to keep an eye on if you run a business or don’t like shopping on Amazon.
If you or someone in your family plays video games you’ve probably heard about ‘loot boxes’.
These are paid for in game extras which can contain extra lives, weapons or costume accessories but players don’t know what they’re getting until they’ve paid for and opened a box.
Some of them aren’t worth much at all and consumer groups are calling for legislation to protect players from what it claims are misleading, aggressive and manipulative tactics.
Finally, this from Switzerland where cameras are being fitted onto public transport vehicles, to gather vast amounts of data about the waste on the streets - how much, where it is and when it gathers - the system then uses artificial intelligence to co-ordinate cleaning resources and public awareness campaigns to keep things clean.
Email newsletters still outperform social media when it comes to getting a return on investment for marketing - and that’s why so many businesses send so many emails and they’re so desperate to get you to sign up to join their mailing lists.
You probably deal with some companies where you’re very happy to be on their mailing list and get details of new products and sometimes even discounts.
But there are others that you maybe didn’t mean to join or you feel they email you too frequently.
By law, it should be easy to opt out and tell the company you don’t want to receive any more emails. Look at the bottom of the emails, sometimes right at the bottom and there should be an ‘Unsubscribe’ button, sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not a button but it’s in pretty small text.
Clicking that should get your email address off the mailing list.
You can also look at the settings within your email provider and automatically block email from particular addresses or send it straight to your junk folder.
On the subject of the junk or spam folder…it’s worth checking that regularly because sometimes it can be a bit overprotective and there might be email in there that you actually do want to see.
Some 51 years after the first email was sent, it’s still one of the most widely used methods of communication in our world.
Here’s a new player in the video editing business - it’s called veed.io and it’s an online browser based video editor.
There’s nothing to download and a decent free plan as long as you don’t mind restrictions on the duration and quality of the videos.
It makes it particularly easy to add captions to videos and then share them to social media.
Like CapCut which I mentioned on a previous broadcast, these new and emerging tools are great but it’s always worth checking the level of technical support you’re getting from them, read their privacy policy and think about where your data is going.
If you found it difficult to use Instagram across the weekend - it was’t just you.
The platform experienced a variety of intermittent outages over the last few days.
Once again this underlines how much we rely on social media - using it to contact friends, get our news and do work, so it has huge implications when they go down.
The traditional broadcast model is still far more reliable than IP and mobile networks which is just one reason why radio remains so popular.
Here’s your 60 second round up of the latest technology news.
Could Playstation be planning a ‘pro’ version of its PS5 console?
Chinese electronics giant TCL says it expects to see one - and an upgraded Xbox sometime in 2023 and 2024.
It’s unclear whether the company has any insider knowledge or if this is an educated guess - Playstation fans have flooded social media with complaints that they’re still not able to get their hands on stock of the standard PS5 many months after it launched.
Dyson has already changed the game for vacuum cleaners - now it’s set its sights on other household chores that could be carried out by robots.
250 engineers will work at a new domestic robotics centre in Wiltshire.
And look out for changes to where your website appears in the Google rankings over the next few weeks.
The search engine is rolling out another set of changes to its algorithm, which could see your website, if you have one, moving up or down the list.
The online dating market is expected to be worth 3.5 billion dollars by the end of 2025.
One of the key elements to consider when choosing one to use is whether you prefer a system that lets you browse and read profiles and then decide who to contact, or something based around an algorithm where you enter information about yourself and the software then suggests ‘matches’, or would you prefer something based around ‘looks’.
Tinder is one of the best known sites based around physical attraction, famous for its ‘swipe left or right’ to show whether you like or dislike the images.
Other popular sites include Match.com, PlentyOfFish, eHarmony, OKCupid, and bumble.com which is different from many others in that only women can initiate conversations for heterosexual matches.
Many dating apps operate a freemium model, or at least a free trial where you can join, create a profile and have a look around but to contact anyone you have to pay a subscription.
Be sure to follow the advice around safe dating and meet people in a public place - one interesting site no longer with us was called Rock N Roll Dating which trued to match people through their tastes in music but it didn’t catch on and closed down some years ago.
I’ve a few sites to mention today if you’re interesting in taking your video game playing to the next level and perhaps trying to become a video game influencer.
Some gamers are growing a fan base and even making money by streaming themselves playing games and to make the most of it, you need a ready supply of games.
Research from Affise highlights the platforms gamers should consider.
Top of their list is Playstation Plus followed by Playstation Now which lets you play games from previous Playstation models and could be good for someone interested in retro gaming.
There’s also Steam, GOG Galaxy 2.0 and Origin.
Many of the platforms I’ve just mentioned have free plans as well as premium paid for services so take a look around and choose one that suits you best.
There’s also Google’s Stadia platform and remember to make it as a gamer you would probably also want a webcam, USB microphone or headset, quality graphics card and a very good broadband connection.
Glassdoor is a bit like TripAdvisor - but for staff.
You’ll find it at glassdoor.co.uk and it encourages employees to anonymously review their current or former employer.
It can hep you find out how much you should be earning and, according to research is a useful early warning of things that might be wrong with a company.
Like any review site, you can’t 100% trust everything you read there but it might be worth a look if you’re in the market for a job or if you’re an employer and want to know what your staff think of your workplace.
TikTok’s chosen Vietnam as the test centre for what could be a serious push into the gaming market.
Reuters reports the video sharing app has launched a series of its own ‘mini games’ within the app which could roll out soon across the rest of the world.
Some experts believe TikTok gaming will be timed to have a big impact around Christmas.
It’s funny - if you think back to the early days of Facebook, simple games such as FarmVille were a big part of the appeal.
But this is another area where Facebook has been left behind.
I’m back tomorrow with a look at online dating apps.
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Email me your questions to colin@colinkelly.net and I’ll do my best to answer them.
I get a lot of people asking about live streaming and how they can get better results.
If you’re working from a PC or Mac and video streaming or streaming yourself playing video games, the graphics card is one of the most important pieces of equipment.
Lots of newcomers to streaming focus on broadband speed which is obviously incredibly important, you do need a very high upload speed and probably an ethernet connection plugged right into your computer.
You could have that, and a great webcam but if the graphics card in your machine isn’t capable enough then the results will be mediocre at best.
You can buy external USB graphics cards which plug into your device but most also need a casing and a fan to keep them cool. Expect to pay up to 2 or 3 hundred pounds for a reasonably good quality card and up to a thousand pounds for the tip of the range models.
Nvidia and AMD are among the big names in graphics cards - but before you rush to buy one you’ll need to be sure they’re compatible with your device and if you’re running an Apple Mac you will have a more limited choice.
Gap is the latest retailer to set itself up inside the MetaVerse.
The clothing chain has opened a virtual space inside Roblox although you won’t be able to buy anything.
The experience is aimed at teenagers and let’s them hang out at a photo booth and juice bar, there’s also a Style Stage where they’ll be encouraged to show off their style.
It seems the plan is to create a positive, fun space for young people in the hope they’ll feel an affinity to the brand and then buy something through the website or in stores.
If you want to make better videos from your phone - this app might help.
It’s called CapCut.
There’s a basic free version which is very good - the app was designed by the owners of TikTok and is one of the quickest, simplest platforms I’ve used for creating and editing videos, adding captions, titles and transitions and then exporting to TikTok and other social media channels.
It’s on iOS and Android and seems to work very well.
And on the subject of video, the Premium Beat blog is asking if holograms might be the future of film making. I think they will have a significant role to play.
Netflix makes almost all its revenue from subscription fees.
And some of the big streaming giants are concerned that their service might be among the first cuts being make if they are trying to reduce their household outgoings.
Of course the companies themselves are also having to pay more just to run their businesses as all of us try to deal with the cost of living crisis.
Netflix has already put its prices up for many users but what if it introduced adverts between the shows.
Research from LoopMe, involving 300 UK consumers, found that 36% said they’d cancel their Netflix subscription if it became advertiser funded.
Many commentators believe the company is exploring cheaper subscriptions with adverts and more expensive tiers which would remain ad free.
There’s also the Netflix gaming service which has started small in the US but could expand.
Streaming is a highly competitive space and these rich, powerful companies need to keep reinventing themselves to keep your subscription revenue coming in.
It always annoys me when I’m in a queue at a cafe or takeaway and a group of people in front of me, who’re together, all want to pay separately.
Technology should make this a thing of the past.
Check the app store for ‘bill splitter’ apps.
There are dozens to choose from including KittySplit, Splitwise and Billzer.
Some are best suited to situations where you’re out and about - there are others, such as CountCalculate which are aimed more at groups of people living together, paying a share of a bill - for example energy bills or broadband.
Some can even calculate who owes what based on how much they earn, so those with the highest income pay the most.
It’s worth looking around and one to keep in mind if you’re planning a holiday with friends or even getting ready to start student life later in the year.
While we’re on the subject of money, remember PayPal.Me lets you set up a unique but simple and catchy PayPal link and anyone who clicks it can quickly send money to your account.
Good news for Chromebook users, Google announced last week that one of the most popular video editing software apps will soon be available on ChromeOS - LumaFusion is a real hit with iPhone and Android users but until now hasn’t run on Chromebook which have lacked a real serious video editing system, this would be a great step forward and make Chromebooks more useful for content creation and creative tasks.
Google has also announced a new Pixel smartwatch coming later this year. The company owns FitBit and this could be a powerful integration between a quality mobile device, mass appeal apps like Google Mail, search and calendar and one of the best known names in health and fitness.
A friend of mine broke his wrist last week and been trying to type with one hand ever since…it’s given him a whole new perspective on the accessibility of our technology - something many of us never really think about.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, typing WIN-H on any Windows programme opens up the Voice to type feature which means you can dictate whatever you want to say, instead of typing it out.
Get the same on a Mac through System Preferences, Keyboard and click ‘dictation’
His deal to buy the company hasn’t gone through yet but Elon Musk is already working to give users a better experience of Twitter.
Over the weekend the billionaire Tesla founder Tweeted what he called very important information to fix your Twitter feed.
Following his instructions changed what you see from a tailored, personalised feed based on what Twitter’s algorithm thinks you want, to something very different - consisting of a chronological feed from the people you follow.
To try it, tap the home button, then the stars on the upper right of the screen and then choose ‘latest Tweets’.
Musk said users who didn’t do that were being manipulated.
You can switch back and forth between the 2 types of feed whenever you like.
UK Eurovision star Sam Ryder was trending after his excellent performance, finishing as runner up to Ukraine.
Sam came to fame via TikTok and I wonder if we might see future UK entries coming from TikTok or maybe even Sam competing again next year.
You can find Sam @samhairwolfryder on TikTok and if you want more Eurovision there is an official Eurovision app.
More tomorrow!
Friday the 13th seems like an appropriate day to tell you about some of the misinformation that flies around the internet…and in fact, it’s making some of us ill.
Some people take pleasure in sharing fake news, or winding other people up..everything is amplified and there are even bots - machines, bits of software and code - that are designed to cause trouble online.
The fact is that spending too much time online risks giving you a pretty warped view of reality.
Things aren’t always as bad as online makes out.
One of the worst things you can do is to Google symptoms - whether it’s physical or mental health…you can end up reading all sorts of unreliable, untested and inappropriate information all being passed off as an absolute fact.
So my plea to you at the end of this Mental Health Awareness Week is, when you’re online, pay attention to the source of the information.
Can it be verified? Is it reliable? Who are these people? Can they be trusted?
And try to spend more time consuming information from trusted sources - real world organisations, with a physical presence and some sort of barrier to entry or regulation - ask yourself ‘who does the person that wrote this answer to?’ And if the answer is ‘nobody’, think very carefully before attaching too much importance to what they’re saying.
Many of us understand the importance of making responsible decisions about the food we consume.
What if we were to apply that same thinking to the content we consume from the internet and social media channels?
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and now would be a good time to start taking control instead of passively scrolling through Instagram, Twitter and the like.
These platforms open us up to all sorts of opinions, stories and sometimes trauma, from all over the world.
And if we engage with it at all - even reading it out of curiosity or sharing it because it makes us angry and we want a friend to see how terrible it was - the social media algorithms mistake that for interest and give us more and more of the content that isn’t really doing us any good.
It becomes an echo chamber but there are things you can do to take back control.
One is to mute certain people and keywords and phrases.
Or to start again with a new clean account, leaving the past behind.
Use ‘airplane mode’ on your phone during the working day which will help you kick the habit if you’re constantly checking social media feeds and then restrict your use to certain times.
Often we get sucked into social media because we’re scared of missing out - we can’t give up completely because the connections and information are important to us.
But that doesn’t mean it has to dominate our lives and there are steps we can take to make sure the content we do see is doing us some good rather than making us anxious and angry.
There’s a wealth of content on social media aimed at inspiring and motivating us to live better lives.
A cottage industry of well-being podcasts has developed, with celebrities telling us how to be more mindful and sharing experiences of their own mental health journeys.
Some if it is very good.
My particular favourites include Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘Spinning Plates’ podcast, there’s also ‘Happy Place’ by Fearne Cotton.
Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett has a podcast called Diary of a CEO which often discusses issues around mental health and wellbeing.
There are many others as well as thousands of hours of content on YouTube with everyone from Russell Brand to Claudia Winkleman sharing advice on physical and mental health, relationships, career and financial success and more.
Search around or ask a health professional and I’m sure you’ll find something that’s a good fit for you.
What you quickly realise is that whatever issues you’re dealing with are likely to be shared by some very well known and outwardly successful people. And many of those faces smiling at us from magazines and television screens are often hiding similar struggles to what we might be going through.
It’s a special week on the Digital Minute as we recognise Mental Health Awareness week and you can find out more at www.mentalhealth.org.uk
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and I’m looking at some ways I think technology can improve our lives - rather than stressing us out.
Smartphones are incredibly useful tools - for example - most of the time, they know almost exactly where you are.
And this has led to a surge in popularity for a fairly new sport, called GeoCaching.
Get some friends or family together, download the official GeoCaching app which is free, with a premium paid for upgrade - and it’ll take you on a trail - a bit like orienteering - to find hidden items or ‘caches’ all over the country.
It can be a lot of fun and is a great way to explore parts of your neighbourhood you might not have known about.
As with any outdoor activity make sure you tell someone where you’re going and equip yourself for the terrain and bad weather. Geocaches can be hidden in all sorts of places, expect to go cross country, up hills and sometimes even up trees.
As brilliant as our smartphones are, they can’t track your location if it doesn’t have a network connection so keep that in mind.
On the subject of location, Google offers a Location Sharing service.
When this is activated, you can choose to share your exact location with people you choose. When they look at Google Maps, they’ll see where you are - or at least, where your phone is.
You might find you’re closer to your friends than you realise and could then message and arrange a spontaneous meeting.
The theme of this Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness, and used correctly, smartphones can play a role in bringing us closer together.
Something a bit different all this week on the Digital Minute as we mark Mental Health Awareness week and look at how ‘digital’ can help us live more fulfilling lives. Mental Health Awareness Week is brought to you by the Mental Health Foundation and there’s a wealth of good resources and information on their website at mental health.org.uk
And I want to think a bit about these mobile devices so many of us carry around all day - what are they? Entertainment? Distraction? Comment and opinion?
Or could we start to see smartphones as valuable tools? Capable of helping us to become more productive, to take control of our lives and to make new, positive connections.
The truth is, the phone itself, is whatever you want to make it.
Many of us forget that it is actually a phone. We could dial a number and actually speak to someone.
Or, cut back on social media and use messenger apps to keep in touch with people we really care about, rather than the opinions of random strangers. Create a chat group for friends and family and watch the same film or TV show at the same time and chat while you’re watching.
If you love music, check out Tim’s Twitter Listening party.com
It’s a brilliant shared listening experience involving the lead singer of The Charlatans and the people involved in making a particular album, where they all play the music at the same time, and discuss it.
There’s a complete archive at the website and it’s something you could easily recreate with friends and family on a message app.
Believe me - it’s more enjoyable than I’ve made it sound and an easy way to get a sense of togetherness even if you’re miles apart.
It’s official - Zoom kills creativity.
That’s the headline I saw on Linkedin today - this is based on a study published in the highly respected Nature journal.
It involved more than 600 people and found that working in person generated more and fresher ideas.
The group taking part in virtual meetings generated fewer ideas and researchers found participants tended to spend more time focussing on each other’s faces.
The team behind the study believe working on a screen leads to a narrower cognitive focus.
But there’s more to it - because the screen used in the research was only 15 inches - which is pretty small. Many people who work remotely and make heavy use of video conferencing use larger screens and sometimes even 2 screens.
The lesson seems to be if you’re going remote, make sure staff have the right technical set up to make the most of it.
Keep an eye on Pinterest - it’s launching a new Pinterest TV Studio app which aims to make it easier to live stream and broadcast product demos.
Pinterest is making a real push into the live shopping space this year.
cameo.com is a website where celebrities will sell you personal video greetings of themselves.
You’ll find everyone on there from former pro wrestlers to forgotten soap stars, musicians, reality TV stars and even some legitimate big names still enjoying successful careers.
How much you pay generally varies according how bright the celebrity’s star is shining.
Well now Cameo have cut a deal with Snapchat which means Snapchat advertisers would commission Cameo celebrities to make adverts for them.
If history is anything to go by - expect something similar in Facebook and Instagram soon.
Now radio stations like this one spend lots of time thinking carefully about the mix of music they play.
Soundcloud has just bought a piece of software that claims to be able to do it automatically.
Musiio says it can quickly listen to hundreds of thousands of uploaded tracks and instantly identify which songs are going to be hits.
Those songs will then be prioritised on Souncloud.
It’s all based around an algorithm of course and means the system is looking for songs that match a criteria based largely on other hit songs.
What would it make of something like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ ?
It’s been another funny 24 hours on social media as Twitter users celebrated ‘Ed Balls Day’
Every April 28th, we remember the day Ed Balls, star of Strictly Come Dancing and former politician, sent a tweet containing simply his name.
He’d been searching for news articles about himself and inadvertently typed his name into the ‘Tweet’ box and sent it.
As we now know - if you make an embarrassing blunder, the internet never forgets.
Have a look at hashtag EdBallsDay.
Good news for Facebook - its user numbers are growing again after a small decline at the end of last year.
Asian nations are fuelling much of the growth but recent restrictions imposed by Russia mean numbers in Europe have taken a significant dent.
And while the numbers go up, the amount of money Facebook makes is slightly down.
And after the Peloton bike, the next trend in personal fitness looks like being the high tech fitness mirror.
They cost about a thousand pounds and involve working out while data and coaching tips and advice are overlayed on top of the mirror image.
Experts are divided on whether they’ll catch on.
Lots of people have been asking me about podcasts recently.
It’s easy to get started and some hosting providers - like Podbean have a basic free plan which allows you to get started.
You don’t need much equipment - £20 or so will get you a couple of lavalier or clip-on microphones which you can connect to your phone and start recording.
More advanced set ups could use portable multi track recorders, like the Zoom H4nPro or similar models from Tascam.
If you’re based at home or in an office try to avoid recording your podcast in an echoey room with hard surface and big windows. You’re better in a room with soft furnishings and a decent carpet.
A USB microphone can be a good purchase and be sure to wear headphones - even if it’s just the in-ear bud type.
Podcasts are getting longer - the average duration was about 20 minutes a few years ago, it’s now gone past half an hour and some of the most popular podcasts are even longer than an hour.
It is a competitive space and having a podcast doesn’t mean people will listen to it.
So what is it that’s unique or special about it and how will you make sure people will find it?
Remember another good place to start is to appear on someone else’s podcast as a guest.
It’ll be months before we see the impact of Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter.
The 34 billion pound takeover deal won’t go through until later this year and while the right and left argue about the merits of the much promised ‘free speech’ that Musk says is a priority for him, a far bigger issue is how exactly will he get any sort of return on the money he’s paying for the platform.
It’s hardly made any money in its 18 year existence.
I’d expect him to concentrate on striking deals with broadcasters and publishers - that could be mean premium sports rights, podcasts, perhaps live video streaming deals with news organisations.
The key is providing content people want and for too long Twitter has been home to a very polarised, ugly debate that isn’t doing anyone any good - and certainly did nothing for Twitter’s previous owners.
Some analysts expect some human authentication - could that mean freedom of speech but only if you confirm your identity?
We’ve heard a lot the last 2 years about the environmental benefits of working remotely…but just because you’re using technology doesn’t mean there’s no impact on the environment.
World Economic Forum research looked at what our digital use is doing to the environment.
It found every email sent generates 4 grammes of carbon emissions, and it increases to 50 grammes if there’s a photo attached.
A new app called Fruggr lets users track the carbon used by all their electronic devices and consider more environmentally friendly ways of doing things.
Artificial intelligence and the metaverse isn’t going to be some entirely ‘seperate’ world that you only access by wearing a special headset.
Some of it might be like that, particularly if you’re playing games in a virtual reality world, but there will be another far more useful aspect which is already here.
Certain products for sale on Amazon now feature ‘View In Your Room’. This opens your camera, scans your location and overlays the product in the actual room you are in right now.
You can then move the product around and try out how it’s going to look in particular places.
There are other highly useful augmented reality applications in the world of DIY - for example if you had a product and wanted to see how it was going to fit against a wall or in a tight space, you could find out using AI without having to actually lift the physical item and move it around.
And here’s a quick tip if you want to cut down your social media use without stopping entirely.
Take the apps off your phone.
That way you can still access your favourite platforms via a computer but it won’t be quite so convenient to look multiple times a day. You control the technology rather than have it control you.
Is Google planning its own range of watches?
Tech commentators have spotted a change on the Google Store, which now displays a ‘Watches’ tab.
Google doesn’t currently make watches although it bought FitBit a couple of years ago - until yesterday Fitbit products had their own category on the Google Store, now they sit underneath the ‘watches’ banner.
Experts reckon a Google Pixel watch could be coming soon.
I’ve been trying out a new drawing pad this week.
It’s called the Wacom Intuous, it comes with a pen, or styles and lets you annotate the screen with free hand drawings.
It takes some practice, my handwriting still looks like a child’s and I’m sometimes not quite sure where on the screen my drawing is going to appear.
But it might be useful if you’re involved in meetings or run presentations.
iPads and other tablets do offer similar functionality but some are more expensive.
And if you want to amaze your friends over the weekend - visit YouTube and search for WalMart, Metaverse for a glimpse at what shopping, might look like in the future.
Are you smart, opinionated and do you enjoy writing?
Have you ever considered making money from blogging?
Platforms such as medium.com let anyone sign up, start writing content and if what you say generates enough interest, you could end up getting paid.
Blogging is free and easy to do and you can talk about absolutely whatever you want.
The more specific and niche the topic - the better.
Other blogging platforms include Wordpress and Blogger - they won’t pay you directly for content but it can still prove lucrative.
Some bloggers translate their popular blog into a mainstream media profile, speak at events or publish books.
It takes a lot of work but you can do it anywhere, anytime you like.
And successful blogs don’t have to be long form posts - they don’t need to be like essays.
Short, straight to the point, engaging content often works best.
Think about something you know about, feel passionate about and could create regular written content about.
And a useful tool before I go - check out an app called Trello.
It’s project management software - great for managing tasks and any situation where you’ve various things to do and different people you need to do it with.
That’s trello
You can always rely on the internet to debate the burning issues of the day and over the last 24 hours one of the most trending topics was: what exactly is the filling of a Creme Egg? Cadbury say they produce around 500 million of the eggs every year but a surprising number of fans took to social media to join the discussion, with many having no idea the ‘goo’ is in fact fondant, which does include powdered egg white.
Elon Musk is in for a fight if he’s serious about taking full control of Twitter.
The Tesla boss has made a 43 billion dollar offer to take complete ownership of the platform but the Twitter board is resisting the move, so Musk will have to launch a hostile bid, or, of course, increase the amount he’s offering.
Some tech commentators have expressed doubts that Musk is serious.
Over on YouTube there’s incredible footage from San Francisco of police trying to stop a driverless car and then realising there was nobody inside it.
Every time officers approached the vehicle, it would drive away again, causing huge confusion.
The car’s operators, ‘Cruise’ said police took action because the vehicle was driving without headlights, due to a technical fault.
Cruise is owned by General Motors and says the car pulled over to a safe location, the officer contacted the company and no further action was taken.
Lots of football over the weekend and a clue of what might lie ahead from the college sports scene in America.
The University of Centra Florida’s football team are starting their new season with QR codes instead of number’s on the player’s backs.
Scanning them with a smartphone takes you to the player’s biography page on the team’s website.
I could see this catching on in the UK - there are obvious sponsorship and revenue generating opportunities.
At the start of the year, word puzzle Wordle was getting all the hype - which culminated in it being taken over by the New York Times.
Here’s a new game that music fans will love.
‘Heardle’ is an app which asks you to identify the song from the introduction in as few tries as possible.
There’s even a Pokemon inspired Wordle spin off called Sqwordle.
And do you have a friend that sends voice messages on WhatsApp because they can’t be bothered typing?
I hear some people find this infuriating - and WhatsApp is making it easier to record and listen to voice messages.
You can now pause them while you play back. And you’ll be able to continue listening to messages while moving out of the chat and doing other things on WhatsApp.
Artificial intelligence is here but how good is it?
Could you recognise the difference between an image generated by a machine and a picture of real, living human?
Test yourself and see how you get on at www.whichfaceisreal.com
The website gives you a real human face and a computer generated face side by side and asks you to pick the person who’s real.
I lost a best of 5, by 3 points to 2.
Another interesting site is ‘thispersondoesnotexist.com'
Refresh the page and each time you’ll be shown a computer generated image of a person, that does not exist.
There are also sites demonstrating artificially generated art - including music.
The future of Twitter has taken another twist with biggest single shareholder Elon Musk tabling an offer to buy the entire company - valuing it at 41 billion dollars.
He says he thinks the platform has huge potential and he’s the one to unlock it.
And if you’re looking for something fun to take into the weekend - check out @catworkers on Twitter.
Etiquette is one of the most important elements of success on social media. Being able to ‘read the room’ and say things in an appropriate tone.
Treating others the way you wish to be treated and respecting other people’s boundaries are all valuable things to learn - in life and on social media.
One key attribute is being able and willing to let someone else have the last word.
All too often discussions become arguments and arguments escalate into something even stronger because neither side can let things go.
It pays dividends to be the one to - sometimes - let the other person come back at you - and then say nothing in response.
Being content with having some people disagreeing with you and not feeling obliged to try and change their mind also goes a long way to cultivating a healthy community around you on social media.
Sarcasm doesn’t come across well on social media and expressing even minor irritation in a jokey way can be perceived by some, as aggression.
I say all this as someone who’s got it wrong myself on plenty of occasions but who has tried to learn!
The old adage - if you’ve nothing good to say , don’t say anything is worthwhile - and think about the implications for your employment, or other friends and family members all of whom may well see everything you post on social media.
Every post - from a private WhatsApp group to public Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all part of our personal brands and we should think carefully before we say anything that might jeapordise these.
Online hactivist group Anonymous has released a video threatening Vladimir Putin with further cyber attacks against his regime - telling the Russian leader ‘your secrets are not safe’, until he stops attacking Ukraine.
Anonymous claim to be ‘ethical hackers’ and have taken action in the past against governments and corporations.
SocialMediaToday.com is highlighting some strong growth for a new social media app called ‘BeReal’.
The idea is users share a photo from their real life, once a day at a different, very specific time. The app uses the back and front cameras on your phone so you are sharing where you are and what you’re looking at, as well as your face.
It’s enjoying good growth and could give us a sign of new features that might make their way into Instagram and Facebook.
BeReal is seen as the antitode to the perfectly polished and fake versions of themselves that some people share on other social apps.
Headphone giant Beats has launched some new colours of its Studio Beats buds - the high end devices are now available in blue, gray and pink as well as black, white and red.
If you’re an Android phone user - be careful about the apps you install onto your device.
Google has been forced to take action after it emerged more than a dozen apps contained malicious code which has been harvesting people’s phone numbers, email addresses and even their locations.
Among then was a widely used QR Code scanner which failed to meet its data protection policies.
There’s no suggestion the app developers were actually using the information for anything other than legitimate purposes and the apps affected will be allowed to ask to be reinstated into the Play Store.
Staying with Google for a moment - have you tried Google Lens?
It’s an image search - if there’s a product, perhaps a piece of equipment, jewellery, or an item of clothing and you want to find out more about it snap it with your camera and Google Lens will give you any information it can find about it.
It’s great for identifying something you might want to buy, without having to type in text to search.
And with council elections taking place soon across the UK, there’s a fascinating article on cnet.com from Estonia, which has enabled digital voting, letting citizens vote from anywhere and even change their preference right up until the polls close.
Twitter has confirmed it IS working on an edit button.
The feature is one users have been requesting for years but it’s fraught with difficulties.
What if someone Tweets something perfectly reasonable, you ReTweet it and they then edit it to something offensive?
It’s been suggested some sort of ‘edit history’ might be included.
I’m always looking at ways your tech can save you money.
One of the most important things to do is to make sure you’re not paying for something you don’t need. So cancel free trials when you reach the end of the free period and don’t let it roll into a subscription.
Pay attention to apps you use once that might auto renew every month or every year.
And if there’s something you really do want and use regularly, there can be big savings by paying for a year up front.
And bundles are always worth a look too - your broadband deal might offer a discount on a mobile phone and some TV packages include things like Netflix or free music streaming subscriptions.
You can also benefit by ‘referring a friend’ - many providers will give you both cash so if there’s something you love - you can use your social media to shout about it.
Elon Musk - the world’s richest man and co founder of Tesla, is now the biggest shareholder in Twitter.
Musk bought 9.2% of the company and has previously expressed concerns about Twitter not doing enough to adhere to the principles of freedom of speech.
On the 25th of March he even asked his followers if they thought a new platform was needed.
There’s been a fierce debate about the role of social networks in spreading misinformation and whether they should allow vaccine sceptics, gender critical commentary and Donald Trump a free rein.
Whether Musk has any answers to any of this remains to be seen and there’s concern from some that such a Ruch and powerful individual now owns such a large chunk of such an influential communications platform.
Closer to home, the cost of living squeeze continues to bite.
But social media is full of ideas of every day money saving ideas and tips to reduce the costs of everything from central heating bills to broadband.
Community, bulk buying is another opportunity social networks can provide and of course the 2nd hand goods market with sites like Gumtree, eBay and a huge rise in clothing exchange sites like DePop, Vinted, and Hardly Ever Worn It all letting you sell clothes you’re finished with or pick up potential bargains.
With all of us being squeezed tighter than at any other time for generations, think about shifting the way you use social media and spending less time caught up in celebrities and more time working together to save money.
Are you sometimes asked to sign documents you’ve received online?
You can print them out and physically sign the paper with a pen - but you then have to scan it back into your computer or take a picture of it with a phone.
It can be time consuming and frustrating.
Online e-signature software like ‘signature’ and ‘docusign’ are often used in a professional context but there might be an even easier way.
If you turn the document into a PDF, visit ‘Tools’, then choose ‘Annotate’ and ‘Signature’, depending on the device you’re using, your camera might open and you can sign a piece of paper, hold it up and then insert the image into your PDF.
It works very well on certain models of Macs and Chromebooks as well as certain PCs.
It’s certainly easier than printing out and scanning back in.
If you’re interested in the use of Augmented Reality - you should know about Volograms.
This could be the next frontier in video - it turns almost any video into 3D and augmented reality.
It’s already been used in Ireland for the ‘Inspiring Women’ project around STEM - the iOS app is available now and Android coming soon.
Google is encouraging businesses to make the most of a free opportunity to promote themselves online - by filling out their own ‘Google My Business’ profile.
You can do it through the website or dedicated Google My Business mobile app.
It’s entirely free and lets you start to manage how your business is displayed across Google products including the main search results as well as Google Maps.
It also now has a new feature which lets businesses highlight their commitment to recycling.
Check out the Google Blog for more on this.
Playstation fans don’t seem entirely impressed with the gaming giants plans for its new PS Plus subscription service which launches in June.
One gripe seems to be the treatment of PC gamers who’ll face a price hike to continue playing Playstation games on their computers.
Snapchat users are now able to share YouTube videos within the app - just visit the video you’re interested in, hit the share button and choose Snapchat.
And have you been mysteriously locked out of Facebook for no apparent reason in the last few days?
You’re not alone - hundreds of users around the world report seeing a message telling them their account had been disabled, only for it to reappear a few days later.
The company has acknowledged the issue but hasn’t said what caused it.
Watch out for those social media April fools.
I won’t give anything away and spoil the fun but if you are browsing your favourite social media channels or seeing messages from friends or famous brands and news organisations and you’re thinking ‘that can’t be right!’ - then just remember what day it is!
An incredible story breaking in the Washington Post with allegations that Facebook’s parent company hired a political campaigning group to run a campaign designed to highlight the dangers of TikTok.
The newspaper suggests rumours were spread about dangerous TikTok trends.
There’s no suggestion of any laws being broken but if this is true - I think it backfired. The extra scrutiny forced TikTok to take action, which it did, and it has successfully addressed some of the concerns - exaggerated or otherwise - that people might have had about it.
This year I expect TikTok to overtake Instagram and to be come the 2nd most widely used social networking platform.
RODE have made a name for themselves manufacturing microphones and some of their range work well if you need sound for videos or live streams and video conferencing.
Now, for the first time, Rode is getting into headphones. Their first set of headphones are aimed at high end users involved in ‘critical listening’ such as mixing and mastering.
Thanks to podnews.net for breaking the story.
Some new options for YouTube users if your channel has more than 1 thousand subscribers - a ‘Go Live Together’ option lets you bring guest presenters into your live stream and a Q+A feature will make it easier for viewers to submit questions, rather than trying to catch them all through the main live chat.
And we talked about GIFs recently on the Digital Minute - those short little clips often of people clapping their hands, or laughing, some are from films and music videos - I told you how you could create your own GIF - well it just got easier for Twitter users with iPhones as a new feature is being rolled out which will let you make your own GIFS from pictures you’ve taken all within the Twitter app.
There’s also GIF action on TikTok which has launched a new GIF library.
There’s no official word from Apple yet on suggestions it’s working on a subscription service which would let people pay monthly for iPhones and iPads.
Bloomberg broke the story but it’s now being widely reported.
It would remove the upfront cost of buying an iPhone or iPad - analysts say a subscription model would make sense because over time and considering how much they’re used for, mobile devices actually don’t seem that expensive compared to, for a example a cup of coffee everyday or a newspaper subscription.
I think the problem Apple will have is the mobile phone networks.
They already let users pay monthly for phones and tablets - if Apple goes ahead with a hardware subscription, it could be less attractive for phone networks to promote Apple products.
For that reason, I can’t see this happening, in the UK at least.
Wired magazine is calling the idea ‘Netflixification’ and predicts lots of products and services will move to a recurring subscription where you never actually ‘own’ anything, just lease it.
Similar to many PCP car deals which are common these days.
And one for Playstation gamers - Sony is expected to launch a new video game subscription service, combining Playstation Now and Playstation Plus.
Our cars are at the forefront of technological innovations - whether that’s electric vehicles and the drive towards sustainability or even research and development into the self driving vehicles of the future.
In car entertainment is accessible to many of us already and if you have a car, it might be capable of more than you realise.
The standard ‘radio’ has now developed into an ‘In Car Entertainment System’ in many vehicles with music, communication and navigation all available.
Depending on your make and model, you might have access to software such as Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
This provides a seamless experience between the car and your phone, without having to set up Bluetooth everytime you drive.
Used properly, the system speaks to you with important information, so there’s no requirement to look at the screen at all or touch any buttons.
And that’s because in the UK it’s illegal to touch a mobile phone at all while you are behind the wheel of a car or if you’re a passenger supervising a learner.
As well as being highly dangerous, breaking that law carries the risk of 6 penalty points and a £200 fine.
However, research from the start of lockdown suggested even using systems like CarPlay and Android Auto led to slower reaction times than drivers with nothing else going on around them.
You can be prosecuted if police think a mobile phone - even a hands free device - is causing you to be distracted.
So use the technology carefully and always put safety first, maybe the simplest option is to stick with your favourite radio station.
canva.com is one of the most widely used online design tools in the world.
The Australian company launched in 2012 and has grown quickly over the last 10 years.
It lets you make graphics, presentations and videos simply and quickly - drag and drop - you don’t need complex design skills.
Some people think that makes the designs look a bit repetitive and it’s hard to create a truly original look in canva.
Many professionals will prefer tools like Adobe Photoshop…BUT with the amount of images many of us have to create quickly for social media, it can be extremely useful.
It has a very good free plan but the more advanced features cost around 8 pounds a month.
But - it’s free if you’re a non profit organisation. So - charities….this is well worth taking advantage of.
This next one frightens me a little bit.
Snapchat has bought a company based in Paris called NextMind which says it monitors brain activity to understand what you want to do when you’re using a computing device.
So instead of clicking a button on a website with a mouse, or swiping with your finger, you could interact simply by thinking about what you want to do.
Facebook has been dabbling in something similar. Where will it all end up?
‘Throwback Thursday’ is an internet trend where people post pictures and video clips from years gone by on their social media feeds.
Lots of people take part from businesses to individuals and celebrities.
It can be fascinating to see how technology looked in years gone by, to relive memories or to cringe at some of the fashion choices.
Throwback Thursday also provides some escape from some of the negativity you’ll find on the internet and one of my favourite accounts to look at for this sort of things is @oldUKcatalogues on Twitter which posts random selections of scans from the old catalogues.
One of the most popular images is the old Cadbury chocolate machine which took 2 pence pieces and dispensed miniature bars of chocolate.
There’s also a selection of Matchbox cars from 1981.
Something a bit more up to date now - have you ever seen those GIF picture and video clips and wanted to create your own?
You can and it’s easy.
Visit giphy.com that’s GIPHY.com and you can upload pictures and video clips you’ve taken yourself and turn them into those short little animated clips that play automatically.
It’s a great way to liven up your social media feeds.
I’ve got some new televisions to tell you about today, from LG.
The new G2 Gallery Edition id the premium model - these are OLED televisions with increased brightness on the previous model and wall mounts in the box. There’s also an improved stand if you’d rather not mount them.
The new range brings down the weight and features a thinner bezel.
Sizes range from 55 inches all the way up to 97 inches.
If you need something a little smaller than the C2 Series might be more appropriate - the company is expecting it to do particularly well among gamers.
And later this year, LG will release two models of 8K television.
Which I’m sure would look amazing were it not for the fact that there really isn’t much content made in 8K anyway.
There’s a bit of fun happening on Twitter now as the platform launches its annual ‘brand bracket’ competition.
Who is your favourite brand on Twitter?
There’s an American slant to it with brands like Wendys and Delta Airlines battling it out for votes.
But popular snack Pringles was getting talked about yesterday.
Check out #BestOfTweets to keep in touch with what’s going on.
The head of Instagram has been giving more details about how Hashtags work on the platform and the impact they have on the number of people who see each post.
Adam Nosseri says Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t automatically favour hashtags and push them out to people - although there is evidence they did at one time - instead, he says they’re used to categorise content and people interested in that subject matter will deliberately try to find it - resulting in increased reach.
Instagram allows 30 hashtags on each post although many users believe somewhere between 5 and 15 is the optimum number for the best results.
If you need help finding hashtags you could try a hashtag generator such as all-hashtag . Com
As social media gets bogged down every day by more noise, clutter and nasty stuff it pays to seek out the valuable communities.
Linkedin Groups, Clubhouse audio spaces and increasingly large scale WhatsApp groups and Zoom webinars are becoming valuable.
Many authors have WhatsApp groups you can join after reading their books, fans of particular TV shows are hosting Clubhouse or Facebook Messenger Rooms conversations after the broadcast and discord.com is another terrific platform for bringing people together where you can actually just talk to each other, in real time, instead of typing a message and posting it somewhere.
It’s been a long-time coming but the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system finally allows iPhone users to unlock their phones with Face ID while wearing a COVID protection mask. The feature is included in iOS 15.4 which is available for the iPhone 12 and onwards.
The South By South West conference is taking place in Austin, Texas this week - it runs until Sunday.
It’s the 35 annual event and while it has its roots in music and film, technology plays a big part in the discussions and showcases.
This year there’s an entire Tech Industry track discussing everything from cryptocurrency and robots to voice technology and artificial intelligence.
Keep up with what’s going on @sxsw on Instagram.
All things Ireland have been trending on social media over the last 24 hours with yesterday being St Patrick’s Day.
Some of the most poignant coverage came from the Twitter account of the Ukrainian embassy in Dublin, sharing videos from the annual St Patrick’s Day parade in the city which included the colours of the Ukrainian flag alongside the traditional green.
Accessibilty is essential in today’s digital world.
If you have a website, have you considered if it’s easy for people with visual impairments to access?
Have you used colours and fonts which are difficult to read? Or challenging language that might be hard for someone to understand if English isn’t their first language?
Technology is incredible and screen reader software helps people who are blind or partially sighted people navigate their way around websites.
But that’s only possible if the website itself has been properly set up.
www.rnib.org.uk has some advice on accessibility and both the UK and Scottish Governments have too.
Among the steps you can take to make your content more accessible is to be sure to include ‘alt text’ on any images you have on your website that means the screen reader software can tell the user what the picture is that they can’t see and if you publish podcasts or videos you should generate transcripts and captions for them.
Devices themselves are also helping - many smartphones offer text to speech translation and automatic captions on any video or audio material played through the phone.
Chromebooks all have a built in screenreader called ChromeVox - access it by pressing CTL ALT Z, then close your eyes, and get some insight into what it’s like to visit a website and have to rely on additional support to understand what’s going on.
Digital has not been kind to bank giant TSB.
It blamed a duplicate payment error on its IT systems once again.
Thousands of customers were affected and found themselves paying for things twice.
Some were left with little or no money in their accounts leaving some stranded or unable to pay for goods at the shops.
After almost a whole day of uncertainty, TSB announced late in the afternoon that it would refund everyone affected overnight.
WWE is the latest big brand to get involved in NFTs or ‘non fungible tokens’
Rapper Snoop Dogg is selling limited edition collectables through his ownership of Death Row Records and now the wrestling company is taking sign ups form people interested in their new NFT platform which is called ‘Moonsault’.
And musicians - TikTok now has an easy way for you to upload your songs to its platform. Check out soundon.global for all the info.
This week is British Science Week so we thought we’d take a look at the impact of digital on science.
The first point that catches my eye is that British Science Week is in fact 10 days, which started on Friday and runs until this coming Sunday.
Keep in touch with all that’s going on on Twitter @scienceweekUK and the official website at britishscienceweek.org
Your local schools, libraries, charities and businesses will have special events and activities for everyone to take part in - one of the most interesting discussions that caught my eye was some Open University research exploring what reading on screens does to our brains.
One of the key points is just how unnatural reading is - humans have only been able to read for about 6 thousand years and reading on screen has only become dominant in the last 20 years.
Scientists say the sheer volume of reading we do online is a major problem, because it encourages skimming rather than reading and that can change the circuitry in our brain to the point where we may lose the ability to understand more complex content and perhaps even the ability imagine.
Shopping on Twitter is now a thing as the social network makes further moves into its e commerce strategy.
2022 seems to be the year Amazon faces some tough competition with the social networks all wanting to make it easier for us to buy things from businesses using the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Social commerce is the battle ground.
Twitter Shops is described as an ‘experiment’ on Twitter’s official blog.
The feature is free and lets retailers choose up to 50 products to showcase. Only a handful of American businesses are able to run their shops right now but it’ll likely expand.
And as other social networks try to take some of Amazon’s e commerce revenue, Amazon is pushing into the broadcast audio space.
Amazon Amp is a standalone app that lets users create their own radio shows.
The company says its iPhone and invite only at the moment but features tens of millions of songs and some celebrities hosting their own shows.
Google tried something similar to this about 15 years ago and it failed, Amazon is having a good go at this but I’d predict long term the features in ‘Amp’ will simply become part of the Twitch live streaming platform.
And with others pushing in on the shopping space, could this be a case of Amazon spreading itself too thin and forgetting its core mission?
Some brands are great on social media when it comes to showing awareness and support for a particular cause.
Others look a bit desperate and crass and sometimes even attract allegations of tokenism.
International Women’s Day earlier this week is one example and some companies even fell victim to the Gender Pay Gap Bot.
This is a Twitter account, set to find companies using social media to talk up some of their inclusion and diversity credentials but then alongside their original message, adds details of the gender pay gap and highlights situations where women are paid less than men.
As the @paygapapp says in its biography - employers, if you Tweet about International Women’s Day, I’ll retweet your gender pay gap.
It’s another example of how difficult it is to control the conversation on social media.
And a quick bit of internet history…it was this week back in 1995 that the Yahoo search engine launched and it was, for a while, one of the most recognised names on the world wide web.
Twitter users…if you’ve ever taken to Twitter to share details of a mistake you made - for example putting diesel in the petrol tank or salt instead of sugar in your coffee…it could prove to be a lucrative move.
We’ve discovered that Specscavers is going round looking for ‘blunder’ Tweets and then paying the original composer of the Tweet if they give permission for Specsavers to turn it into an ad.
Dan Beasley Harling, who appeared on the Great British Bake Off a few years ago is one example, with a Tweet he sent back in November about putting instant yeast is in tea.
So if you do something similar, don’t despair, you might still end up on top.
Elsewhere across the internet over the last 24 hours, the world has been marking International Women’s Day with celebrations of all things womanhood along with attention being paid to inequality and some of the obstacles many women still encounter as they go about their lives.
Some big brands got involved too - some with more success than others - catch up with it all at #internationalwomensday on Twitter and Instagram.
Finally, Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, IBM and other tech firms are joining the humanitarian mission for the people of Ukraine with donations to relief agencies such as International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee and Doctors Without Borders.
Unique content that people would pay for is the holy grail in today’s content driven digital economy…and podcasts are at the heart of it.
Big tech companies are searching for the next Joe Rogan and they’re prepared to pay a lot of money to secure their services and tie them into exclusive deals.
Expect to see podcasts given a more prominent position inside streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, and all the main social media platforms are trying to think of ways to integrate podcasts into their feeds.
There could be something in this for you - think about your hobbies and interests - the more offbeat and niche the better - could you produce a podcast about it? It might not be particularly popular in your immediate local area, but imagine it going worldwide - there could be millions of people interested in that same topic.
Here’s a new phrase for you - ‘face mute’ - we’ve all done it - turning our webcam OFF on a video call because, well we just don’t want to be seen right now.
An article from zapier.com makes some very good points and asks to remove the stigma from ‘face muting’ insisting it makes sense to prefer to hide your face when eating, checking other tasks during the dull bits of a video call and other times when you just don’t feel like showing your face.
As work from home becomes a permanent part of working life for many, having the freedom to ‘face mute’ is likely to be an important part of company culture.
Listen up if you own a Fitbit Ionic Watch - the fitness trackers are the subject of a voluntary product recall after reports the battery could overheat and cause serious burns.
The company is now owned by Google and says it sold 1.7 million of the Fitbit ionic devices around the world between 2017 and 2020.
The company says 0.01% of the units sold suffered overheating but it’s acting out of an abundance of caution.
Anyone who purchased a Fitbit Ionic can receive a £225 refund and a discount on a replacement product.
No other devices in the FitBit range are affected by the issue.
Facebook parent company Meta is celebrating Women’s History Month by shining the spotlight on women run small businesses.
There’s a range of resources aimed at helping women who run small businesses - find it at fb.com/shemeansbusinesshub
It includes training and advice for getting the most from social media.
The company has also launched what it calls a ‘cultural guide’ which highlights the challenges women in business face around the world as well as advice for everyone in business to help drive women’s equality.
Ultra short social media videos are getting longer and at the same time, expect mainstream TV shows to get shorter!
TikTok has announced it’ll soon permit video uploads of up to 10 minutes in duration, potentially paving the way for a whole new genre of entertainment.
The feature will roll out to all users in the next few weeks and is set to heap pressure on YouTube which until now has had the longer form video space all to itself.
BBC 1 recently showed a short form series called ‘Cheaters’, an 18 part comedy drama, told in 10 minute chapters, Expect to see more of this going forward.
Could podcasts be heading for Twitter?
The platform seems to be testing a new tab for podcasts according to some users who’ve shared screenshots of how it might look.
One of the issues holding podcasts back is how difficult it is to share them - an integration with Twitter would be a big step forward and could see Twitter becoming the obvious place to discover new podcasts and people you follow could share links to them.
And games fans listen up - 2 new Pokemon games are heading to Nintendo Switch by the end of this year.
Pokemon Scarlett and Pokemon Violet are 2 adventure games coming late 2022.
Businesses and public sector organisations around the UK are being warned to be extra vigilant when it comes to cyber security as the threat of an online attack sparked by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.
The National Cyber Security Centre issued guidance, saying there was a heightened risk of malicious cyber incidents overseas which could have an impact on UK institutions, services and systems.
It did stress there was no knowledge of any current specific threats to UK organisations.
Visit NCSC on Linkedin and Twitter for more information.
Fascinating insight from a socialmediatoday.com survey which asked Linkedin users the most annoying thing about the platform.
With 33% of the vote, the top answer ‘unwanted messages’.
Premium LinkedIn users are able to send ‘InMail’ to others who they don’t know and aren’t connected to.
No surprise, it caused annoyance - it’s the modern equivalent of a telesales phone call. But it’s interesting to see just how many people it annoys and I think it’s something Linkedin needs to take a look at, but..removing that paid for feature would hit Linkedin in the pocket.
Finally, a handy product whether you live stream, play games or just multi task with your computer - the Elgato stream deck lets you set up hotkeys and shortcuts, letting you do several tasks at the touch of a button.
The major social media platforms have been awash with messages of support for the people of Ukraine across the weekend with some users changing their profile picture to the Ukranian flag and celebrities ditching their usual selfies to highlight charities working with those affected by the conflict and sharing details of how to donate to the relief effort.
There are also reports of millions of pounds worth of anonymous donations being made to the Ukranian military via Bitcoin.
Several YouTube channels are showing round the clock live streams from the centre of Kyiv.
Here’s an interesting innovation from Norway which I read on spring wise.com, a start up using virtual reality to help people tackle phobias.
It’s thought a quarter of the world’s population will suffer from some form of anxiety disorder at some point int heir life and for some patients, exposure to the source of their problem, in a controlled setting, can help.
But this isn’t always immediately possible - for example - fear of spiders, heights and so on - Fornix is a start up company offering Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy.
And it’s the best example I’ve seen yet of how the so called ‘Meta Verse’ might have a positive role to play in our future.
If you’re looking for some good accounts to follow on TikTok - the Met Office channel is probably quite useful just now. For laughs, check out Canadian star Call Me Kris who has more than 42 million followers for her sketches with a unique range of characters she all plays herself.
Dr Julie Smith is a British psychologist who’s gained a huge following and a lot of praise for the way she brings mental health and particularly anxiety to live with simple actionable tips, aimed at the TikTok audience.
There’s also content claiming to be from the frontline of the conflict in Ukraine although as with anything online and particularly in times of international conflict not everything is reliable and accurate.
Earlier this year TikTok did say it would put labels on video clips where it can’t verify if they’re accurate.
If you’re still sending large files via email you risk clogging up the inbox of the person you’re sending to - tools like WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Hightail and others are all designed to help and many offer excellent free features.
If the material you’re sending is sensitive be sure to read the small print about encryption and privacy there’s some material that probably shouldn’t be sent through consumer focussed online file sharing services.
And there’s good news for Canva users - the popular design tool now lets you import from Microsoft - so Word docs, Powerpoints and even Excel spreadsheets can all be opened within canva.
‘Reels’ are the ultra short 15 second video clips originally launched by Instagram as part of their efforts to combat the rise of TikTok.
They’ve been a huge success, so much so that Reels have now been extended to Facebook.
So prepare to have your feed filled up with friends and family members as well as businesses you follow sharing video clips of them doing dances, pranks and other content which I guess you’ll either love or hate.
I can’t see Reels being particularly popular on Facebook - I think most people just want it to go back to its roots and be a place where they keep up with friends.
Look out for ultra short clips making their way to mainstream TV and Netlifx which is said to be testing a series of short comedy clips called ‘Fast Laughs’
The tension between Russia and Ukraine is boiling over into the online world with reports of cyber attacks and hacking - now that the UK is part of the sanctions against Russia it’s a good time for us all to be extra careful regarding cyber security and for businesses to think about resilience and how they’d operate if key systems were unavailable.
Reports suggest there won’t be a new Call Of Duty game next year although it does look as though there will be additional material released for this year’s title.
Bloomberg reports we can also expect a free to play online game with the main series returning in 2024.
Blogging is a really enjoyable hobby, a fun way to express yourself creatively and, if you put the work in, could even generate some income or become a whole new career.
It’s easy to start, using a free platform such as blogger.com or wordpress.com and you can write about anything you like.
There are successful blogs on almost any niche you can think of - from hillwalking to board games from the 1980s, personal fitness, health and wellbeing, pop culture and much, much more.
I believe everyone has a blog in them,
The posts you write don’t need to be long and it’s best if they do include some pictures and video where possible.
Business owners often blog because it can improve where their website appears in Google search results and if your blog is seen by someone who shares your passion for a particular topic, and they contact you, it could be the start of a new relationship and collaboration opportunities.
Around the world there are almost 600 million blogs - with some updated every day, some weekly, monthly or just whenever the blogger has something they want to say.
You don’t need much in the way of computer literacy to maintain a blog - you can even set things up so that you publish your posts simply by emailing a special address and you don’t need an existing website to have a blog.
medium.com, blogger.com, wordpress.com are all good places to start and if you blog or there’s one you enjoy reading - get in touch and let me know. You’ll find me at colinkelly.net
Former US President Donald Trump’s new social media network has gone live in the United States. The ‘Truth Social’ app was developed by Trump’s new media company after he was banned by Twitter last year amid claims he was inciting violence during the Capitol Hill riots.
The platform is available to iOS users in America and there are various reports of users experiencing technical problems.
If reading novels is your thing then you might find an e-reader a better option than your phone.
This year marks 25 years since the first e=reader went on sale - the Rocketbook back in 1997.
The technology has come along way since then with the Amazon Kindle and Paperwhite edition among the best known models.
Kobo Libra also gets very good reviews - key things to look for - battery life, does it use e-ink which makes the text seem very realistic and similar to a paperback book and maybe try one out before you buy - do you want one that’s backlit - making it easy to read in the dark or would you rather have one that’s more like a physical book where you’ll only be able to read it if you put a light on in the room.
What you prefer will depend a lot on the condition of your eyes - and what you find comfortable.
So shop around and try before you buy.
And Instagram users - try searching for ‘Lake Baikal’ and you’ll see some amazing pictures and video from the ice festival taking place there just now.
We’re fast approaching a situation where webcams are built into our everyday lives and no longer require logging into a computer or even using a smartphone app to access them.
Facebook Portal is already a feature in some households and now a new Sony Bravia television comes with a camera perched on top of it.
The XR A95K recognises where you’re sitting when you’re watching TV and adjusts the sound and picture to give the best experience. It also lets you start a video call at the touch of a button…or by using your voice as it integrates with Google Voice.
And if voice is your thing, Apple is offering a cut price Apple Music subscription at just £4.99 a month…the catch is you can only control the songs it plays by using your voice. Might get a bit irritating if you like listening to music on public transport, then everyone around you will hear what you’re asking it to play.
And lots of new followers over the weekend for @evemuirhead and her GB women’s curling team who took Olympic gold.
Eve has shared an incredible picture of her team jumping in celebration right in front of the Olympic Rings.
Social media video clips are getting shorter and shorter and now YouTube is pushing its ‘Shorts’ feature more prominently. Channels will include a new area for short clips, of up to 60 seconds in duration.
The advantage YouTube has over TikTok and Instagram is since it’s owned by Google, ‘Shorts’ could be indexed by the search giant and made to appear on the front page of the Google search listings.
As the ultra short video phenomenal grows, it’s only a matter of time until mainstream broadcast television starts showing that format.
If you’ve never used ‘dark mode’ on your phone or computer it might be worth trying it. Many who have will tell you it’s the best decision they made and they’ll never go back.
Fans of dark mode say it’s easier on their eyes, if you’re prone to reading on screen at night or during low light it will reduce glare and makes your battery last longer.
Dive into settings and turn dark mode on to try it and it’s also available within particular software, platforms and individual websites.
Once again the weather is likely to take centre stage today with Storm Eunice expected to cause serious disruption. There’s a red weather warning in place for parts of the south of England, amber through the rest of the country and yellow across much of Scotland.
Remember the Met Office has a terrific, award winning TikTok channel, find it @metoffice and the official website, metoffice.gov.uk.
For unofficial, amateur weather discussion you might like Windy Wilson Weather on Facebook.
The weather is dominating much of the conversation at the moment with #stormdudley trending across the UK.
Severe winds and driving rain led to some dramatic images and video clips being shared across social media.
One of the most shared shots was taken by photographer @peter_j_byrne and shows an enormous wave crashing into the seafront at Blackpool.
Remember Storm Eunice is up next and the weather disruption is far from over.
Facebook’s news feed will now be called simply ‘feed’, probably due to the fact that there’s a lot more that ‘news’ in it.
I’m not convinced but researchers at Gartner believe within 4 years, 25% of us will use the meta verse for at least an hour every day to buy things, work, socialise or be entertained.
The suggestion seems to be that rather than shops having a simple website, they’ll offer a more immersive, virtual reality experience so it’ll look and feel like you’re walking round the store, rather than browsing a website.
Of course the technology geeks see this brave new world as a licence to print money so it’s in their interests to make us all thing it’s going to catch on.
Here’s one for music fans - Apple has bought an artificial intelligence company that’s working on technology that would make songs sound different depending on where you listen to them.
So for example a song sounding mellow when you wake up in the morning but becoming heavier and with more drums as you walk into your local gym. And within an exercise session, new music could be generated depending on how fast you’re moving.
Do you work in an environment where there are lots of presentations and PowerPoints? One way to liven it all up is to explore the world of Pecha Kucha.
This is a Japanese presentation technique where the speaker is limited to 20 slides which display for 20 seconds each and autoplay.
This forces the presenter to be extremely well organised and to keep up otherwise they’ll get entirely tied in knots.
For the audience, it’s great fun and means meetings are highly focussed with only the absolute priority information coming across.
Well this coming Saturday is International Pecha Kucha Day.
A diverse range of special guests will be taking part from around the world - organisers are calling it a 24 hour worldwide celebration of creativity, optimism and love - find out more at pechakucha.com
It’s free to watch the sessions and you’re even invited to share your own Pecha Kucha through social media using the hashtag ipk2022
Zoom and Teams get much of the attention when it comes to webinars but Google Meet might be worth another look.
It integrates very easily with Google Mail and Calendar, there’s nothing to download and if you’ve got files already stored on Google Drive it’s seamless to share them with participants through the life chat or to drop them into the presentation itself.
The system looks deceptively simple which leads some users to think it doesn’t have the more advanced functions of its competitors - but it often does - even down to the virtual backgrounds and generating captions.
The landline phone is on borrowed time and if you’re with one of the major networks such as BT or Virgin Media you might have received a letter telling you to get ready for the change.
The old copper phone network will be completely switched off by the end of 2025 but many customers are being encouraged to make the change sooner.
The important thing to keep in mind is that if you find yourself buying a new landline handset anytime from now on, make sure you get one that’s compatible with ‘digital voice’ or ‘IP voice’ or VOIP.
That means the phone handset will plug into your WiFI router and the same goes for any answering machine service you might use.
The major companies should be providing guidance on where to buy compatible equipment and what to do if you don’t have wifi or even broadband internet at all.
Special arrangements will be put in place for vulnerable customers and there are issues to resolve around battery backups because landline phones relying on the internet won’t work at all in a power cut or if your internet goes down.
No-one knows exactly how those issues will be resolved or who qualifies as ‘vulnerable’ and it’s important to stress nothing is being switched off right now. It’s just about awareness.
Sp speak to your telephone providers and there’s also some good impartial advice at which.co.uk
Finally a quick teaser for you - how many Google searches do you think are conducted every day?
Latest figures from Internet Live Stats claim the answer is 8.5 billion.
Watch out for romance scams this Valentine’s Day with criminals targeting vulnerable singles on social media.
More than 304 million dollars was lost to romance fraud in the US last year - victims looking for relationships are targeted by confidence tricksters who strike up a relationship with them and then claim to be ill or need money for travel.
The situation is so serious that TikTok has issued a warning to its users to be extra careful, you can find out more under the hashtag BeCyberSmart and remember in the UK you can report cyber fraud to the national reporting centre that’s at www.actionfraud.police.uk
Apple has finally taken action over an issue with its AirTag tracking devices which had seen them misused by stalkers.
Now your phone will tell you if there’s an unknown AirTag tracker in the vicinity and it will make it beep loudly so you can quickly find where it is.
And while the Rams and the Bengals contested last night’s Super Bowl, one NFL star is putting his face to an innovative online learning platform aiming to do for education what Netflix has done for movies and what Peloton did for fitness.
Emile Learning is backed by Atlanta Falcon’s linebacker Brandon Copeland who delivers a course on financial literacy on the platform.
Pinterest must be the nicest social network, free from much of the bullying, abuse and vanity to be found on certain other sites.
And it has a much smaller but very loyal user base.
Now it’s holding a virtual event, the ‘Pinterest Presents’ conference on March 10th where it’ll show off some of its latest work around shopping - social commerce - where people buy things direct from within social media sites is going to be one of the big business battlegrounds this year and I think Pinterest could do quite well out of it.
Nintendo held a live event this week to highlight some of their upcoming games and new features.
Among the talking points - Super Mario is getting a football game called Mario Strikers, Battle League, out on June 10th.
A revamped Mario Kart 8 Deluxe promises a range of updates - new courses designed to breathe new life into the game will be released in waves over the next 2 years, starting on March 18th.
And the popular sports game Wii Sports will return for the Nintendo Switch - Switch Sports is out at the end of April.
Finally the internet is an absolute battleground with companies selling stuff in time for Valentine’s Day.
From lingerie to virtual gifts and digital cards there’s plenty going on - but with the day itself on Monday you’ve still got the weekend to get things right in the real world!
Why are some media outlets suggesting Facebook and Instagram might shut down across Europe?
I have to say I can’t see this ever happening and I’m convinced a compromise will be reached but there does seem to be some substance to the stories.
Meta is the new name for Facebook’s parent company and it’s determined to overcome a ruling that prevents it from processing data from users in based in the EU on its servers based in the United States.
In comments made in a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Meta watts that if new arrangements aren’t put in place it would ‘probably’ not be able to offer many of its significant products and services within the EU.
Galaxy phone maker Samsung has been talking up its commitment to sustainability with a new range of phones which are made with recycled materials including water bottles and fishing nets.
To coincide with safer internet day earlier this week - Some fascinating discussion on social media with users sharing how much ‘screen time’ they spent using their phone - a rough average seems to be about 6 hours although some of that could include listening to radio or audio books where you’re not actually looking at the screen.
#screentime #eyecare and #putitaway are worth a look if you’re interested.
Have you ever visited someone else’s website and wondered how they built it?
If it’s built using the Wordpress system, it should be easy to find out.
Visit whatwpthemeisthat.com and type in the address for the website you’re interested in.
It should tell you what theme the website was built with and sometimes additional details including some extra plug ins and features it has.
That’s whatwpthemeisthat.com
Lego is making a big splash on social media this week with its brick by brick version of the new McLaren Formula 1 car.
F1 driver and long time Lego fan Lando Norris is appearing in a series of promotions for the company.
Diego the black and white great dane dog has been trending the last 24 hours - he’s a big lad 15 stone, 6 feet tall and often mistaken for a cow.
Twitter account @myldn featured the pet as he went around the capital with his owner and won an army of fans.
And if the current state of politics has got you feeling a bit fed up you might find some light relief in the form of @jonathanpienews
The satirical news reporter is the new UK correspondent for the New York Times, helping transatlantic audiences make sense of what’s going on over here.
2022 looks certain to be the year of the cost of living squeeze and as we look for ways to save some money, technology will be top of many people’s lists.
Look across the video streaming services and music platforms you pay and consider if you’re paying for the same thing twice.
For example, some mobile phone contracts come with access to Apple Music or Spotify already bundled in.
There can be some crossover between Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and services like Sky Movies and Virgin Media. When it comes to sport, are you really using the subscriptions you have or might it be better value simply to pay as you go when there’s something you really want to see.
If you are completely committed to a platform and really wouldn’t want to be without it then make sure your loyalty is rewarded - either by paying for a full year upfront which often leads to decent savings, or perhaps threaten to leave and see if you can get a better deal than the one you’re on.
Around the web of course there are many deals and discount sites with advice from the likes of moneysavingexpert.com and deals platforms like GroupOn and ItIsOn.
And a quick heads up - Amazon Prime which bundles together deliveries and some music and video streaming - has just increased its prices in America, by 17%.
If it does the same here, the monthly price would jump from 7.99 to 9 pounds 34.
The smart light bulb market is expected to quadruple by the end of this decade. Experts believe it could be worth 11 billion US dollars by 2030.
The latest products have a range of features - letting you choose colours, patterns and setting up schedules.
You can control the lighting from a smartphone app or via your voice.
It’s around £20 for a pack of 2 smart lightbulbs.
That’s a fair bit more than a standard LED bulb but they should last between 10 and 15 years.
One thing to watch with smart lightbulbs is they do rely on your wifi internet connection and in some cases can cause conflicts with other devices on your network.
It’s worth checking with your internet service provider as they might have some guidance on how to set things up correctly.
The first generation of smart bulbs used an internet hub to connect to your router - more modern ranges don’t and you only require the bulbs themselves.
So make sure you read the instructions on the box before you buy.
Just days after the release of research showing Facebook’s continued social media dominance we now have numbers from Facebook itself showing the first drop in the number of people using it every day for 18 years.
It’s a small drop, from 1.930 billion to 1.929 billion but it’s sent shares in the parent company tumbling and boss Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the impact of rivals such as TikTok and YouTube.
But is it younger audiences and cooler platforms or is it a knock on effect from the row about Facebook’s attitude towards privacy? Is it that users don’t like Facebook and what it stands for, rather than simply the platform itself?
It’ll be interesting to see if this is a wider downward trend or if the numbers bounce back up next time.
It’s still making more money though with total revenues up a touch on the previous period.
And how about something light and fluffy for the weekend..if you don’t follow Thoughts of Dog on Twitter you really ought to. With 3.7 million followers each tweet is carefully composed as though it came from inside the mind of an energetic, playful family pet dog.
It even has its own calendar. Find it @dog_feelings
And the Winter Olympics get underway in Beijing today.
A-Team star Mr T has been sharing his support for the USA curling team on Twitter.
Find key moments from the games right on the Google homepage just search ‘winter olympics.’
I told you on Monday night that David Goodwillie would be gone by Friday.
I'm pleased to say he now is.
Here's some opinion on what is an almightly fiasco that I think should see leadership change at the football club.
This episode includes strong language.
How would you fancy attending a Jennifer Lopez concert, dancing along with the rest of the crowd and even releasing a dove when she sings a love song? You could even control the laser light show.
Well now you can, or at least, a virtual, digital avatar version of you can.
It’s all part of Snapchat’s new promotion to promote J-Lo’s latest film, ‘Marry Me’.
Check it out for yourself at marrymevirtualconcert.com - this is a glimpse into what we mean by ‘the metaverse’ and while there’s no doubt experiences like this will cause some interest I think people will quickly tire of them.
There’s a fascinating report out into the world’s digital habits.
The Digital Trends 2022 study from WeAreSocial.com shows 12 and a half trillion hours were spent online each year with big increases in social media use, particularly for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
The report also found running adverts on social media is becoming significantly more expensive.
Although Facebook remains the platform with the greatest number of users, YouTube enjoys the greatest amount of time.
With the world’s population just short of 8 billion, just over 4.9 billion are connected to the internet, with that number growing every year.
And 4.6 billion using some form of social networking platform.
You can see the full data which also looks at the type of content we consume on the internet at wearesocial.com
And you can still vote in this year’s BRIT Awards which take place on Tuesday - check @Brits for more.
It’s award season and entries are open until a week on Friday, that’s 11th February for the Webby Awards.
The Webbys have been honouring the best of the internet since 1996 and celebrates all things digital including websites, video, social media, apps and games, podcasts and more.
Winners will be announced in May and there’s a public vote for the prestigious ‘People’s Voice’ award.
For now, it’s all about entering, so if you’ve done something online you think deserves recognition you can find out more at webbyawards.com
I think Facebook’s parent company is making a huge mistake throwing so much money into the MetaVerse, the so called virtual world it thinks we’re going to inhabit.
If anything, people are already making pledges to spend LESS time online with social media and more time in the real world - I honestly believe people simply don’t want this and it’s going to end up like 3DTV - a clever idea, an interesting novelty but doesn’t work all that well and eventually quietly disappears.
I willing to put my reputation on the line and say now - the MetaVerse will never catch on.
If you’re an NFL fan, Twitter wants your Super Bowl predictions in 6 words or less.
It might end up displayed on the roof of the stadium ahead of this year’s match on February 13th. Follow @twittersports for more.
There's a lesson here for many businesses, certainly every football club. And I'm shocked that some, clearly, still need to learn it.
If you’re one of the few people who has a video instead of a static image on their Facebook profile picture, it’s about to disappear.
The social network has announced it’ll start removing them from the 7th of February - when they’ll be replaced by the cover image.
Users affected will see a message from Facebook asking them to choose a new profile picture if they’d prefer not to have their cover image and profile picture become the same.
Linkedin also allows video profile pictures and like Facebook, they’re not widely used to I’d expect Linkedin to follow suit at some point in the future.
Podcaster Joe Rogan is promising to strive for ‘more balance’ on his podcast after a row about COVID misinformation verses censorship led to music stars Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their music from Spotify, which exclusively hosts Rogan’s podcast.
The row seems to be cooling with Spotify agreeing to add ‘advisory’ noticed to episodes which deal with Covid.
Prince Harry and Megan Markle had also expressed concern about the issue.
The final countdown is on to the Winter Olympics which start in Beijing this Friday with the opening ceremony.
The official Twitter and Instagram accounts can be found @beijing2022 but since those platforms are banned in China the games’ website is linking to Weibo, WeChat and TikTok.
The early rounds of Curling and Luge actually start tomorrow.
And that reminds me to wish you a very happy Chinese New Year - pop that phrase into Google and you’ll get some nice firework animations.
Joe Rogan is promising to do better and to have 'more balance and research' on his podcast.
In short, he's going to try to be more like the BBC.
Doesn't this embarassing episode highlight the importance of the BBC and why we should be protecting it from the shadowy elites who want rid of it?
Far from being 'the establishment', I argue the BBC is counter culture here in 2022.
And Joe Rogan/Spotify? Clowns.
I told you 2022 might be the year of the puzzle…well one nasty internet user tried to spoil the fun by setting up a Twitter account that spoiled word game ‘Wordle’ by posting the next day’s answer.
Twitter quickly shut it down saying it broke the rules by sending unsolicited replies to high numbers of users.
Some of TikTok’s most popular creators are demanding more money from the video sharing platform.
Unlike YouTube which gives its video stars money based on advertising revenue, TikTok set aside a 200 million dollar fund which all the most popular creators share a slice of.
But, as the pool stays static and the numbers increase..those slices, get smaller, while the parent company reports soaring profits in the tens of billions of dollars.
We’re all hearing about the rising cost of living and there’s a pressure on all of us to make our money go further…one way of getting something back is to refer friends to some of your favourite businesses.
From broadband providers to insurance companies, banks, mobile phone companies and many more, it’s worth paying attention to some of the marketing emails that come your way as companies offer discounts, perks and sometimes cold hard cash for you to entice other people to sign up.
I have cracked it.
Here comes the definitive answer to the question 'what is an NFT or Non Fungible Token' in less than 5 minutes and it won't hurt your head!
Listen and share! Need help explaining something complex? Get in touch today email colin@comsteria.co.uk or call +447758 211 585.
In this episode we talk about, Facebook's latest trouble and a new app to help productivity.
In this episode of the Comsteria podcast, Colin Kelly highlights 3 good examples of corporate communications.
The first, features research into the impact our diet has on life expectancy.
Another involves retailer M+S and their decision to stop stocking formal suits in some of their stores.
We then take a look at a great example of social media engagement from the World Intellectual Property Office.
This audio is taken from a video originally published on the Comsteria YouTube channel.
Today we have:
A great resource for music lovers
An Amazon price tracker
Your chance to take part in valuable research helping animals
Colin Kelly looks at how social media is reacting to England's EURO 2020 final defeat.
There's also details of TikTok's new 'shout outs' feature and the tech companies giving their staff more money as a thank you for their work during the pandemic.
It's all coming up in Monday's Digital Minute.
Colin Kelly has today's Digital Minute with all the latest tech news.
TikTok Resumes has launched in the USA and you can pitch yourself for jobs by uploading video clips.
Instagram is making it easier to avoid people who cause you hassle via comments or direct messages.
The new iPhone and iPad operating systems are in public beta test now (which means you can try them!) a greatly improved FaceTime app is among the new features.
And Chromebook users should check out the new version of the Zoom app which they say is now every bit as good as the Mac and PC versions.
Colin Kelly has today's essential gadget and technology round up.
Details of England manager Gareth Southgate trending after his side's 2-1 extra time win over Denmark to reach the EURO 2020 final.
We look at Donald Trump's decision to sue Facebook, Twitter and Google.
And after 5 years and more than 1.1 billion downloads...what can you expect from Pokemon Go's 5th anniversary celebrations?
Colin Kelly is back with the Digital Minute for Tuesday 6 July 2021.
Jeff Bezos stands down as Amazon CEO
Ransomware attack cripples thousands of businesses
Pinterest gets tough on weight loss ads
Xbox Game Pass
New Microsoft Store
Android Apps built into Windows....
'The launch of a new generation'
Windows 11 is a free upgrade.
www.colinkelly.net
The Chromebook is 10 years old this month. What are they, how do they work and is it worth getting one?
Everything you need to know is here, in today's Digital Minute.
It's the Digital Minute for June 17th 2021
Colin Kelly is here with your gadget and technology round up.
There's news of a new artificial intelligence system to alert administrators to arguments in Facebook Groups.
Windows 11 might be a free upgrade for users of earlier versions of the operating system.
Google Photos now offers 'locked' folders
And it's a big day for XBOX gamers.
The Digital Minute is here - your daily jargon free tech update.
Colin Kelly has the news from Nintendo's latest 'Direct' showcase at the E3 software conference.
We also look at a potential rival to Facebook Groups and why sheep and cattle are making a big noise on social media this week.
Colin Kelly has Tuesday's Digital Minute. Where is your favourite celebrity, sports star or politician in the official list of the most followed people across all social media channels?
How twitter reacted to Boris Johnson delaying England's so called 'freedom day' and why Scotland's national football team raised a few eyebrows on Twitter before their EURO 2020 game with the Czech Republic.
Colin Kelly has your daily jargon free tech update.
CPRSavesLives has been trending across social media urging everyone to learn a simple but life saving skill.
The E3 software festival continues with a showcase due this week from Nintendo.
Colin Kelly has the lowdown on the Facebook smartwatch rumour and news of the EA hack where the company says there's no risk to players.
In today's Digital Minute Colin Kelly talks about what you can do with tech you don't use any more and there's also insight into how Instagram's algorithm works.
Listen now and get more at www.colinkelly.net
Today's Digital Minute has details from Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference.
And why were so many websites offline for a period yesterday?
Colin Kelly has the details.
https://www.colinkelly.net
Here's the Digital Minute for Monday 7 June 2021
TikTok celebrates Pride month
Trump serves 2 year ban
Chatbots set to improve
Colin Kelly is here with Thursday's Digital Minute, straight from Glasgow, Scotland.
Today we have a look ahead to the smartphone apps to help you get more out of EURO 2020, and as speculation rages about Donald Trump's possible return to social media, Colin reckons he might start using the Clubhouse audio only app.
With 28 billion photos uploaded every week it's probably not a great surprise.
Colin has the full story in today's Digital Minute for Tuesday 1 June 2021.
Colin Kelly's Digital Minute is here for Monday 31 May.
With the latest on the Tik Tok magnet health scare
A new app for job seekers, looking to rival Linkedin
And Sonic The Hedgehog gets a new game, re-released old games AND a Netflix TV show!
A cyber security special on the Digital Minute for Friday 28 May 2021.
Colin Kelly explains why you should change default passwords on routers and be extra careful when you pick up memory sticks and USB drives.
It's your 60 second jargon free tech update.
Today's Digital Minute for 27 May 2021 includes:
Facebook cracks down on fake news spreaders
MGM goes to Amazon
And the ultimate guide to emojis.
Jargon free, fast moving tech updates. every day!
Colin Kelly's Digital Minute is back for May 26th 2021
What's going on with Amazon and MGM?
Clubhouse shows signs of life
And how long till a verdict in the Apple/Fortnite course case?
Colin Kelly has your 60 second technology update for Tuesday 25 May 2021.
Everything you need to get started with live streaming
- OBS
-ReStream..
and more!
Get daily essential social media, gadget and technology news right here with Colin Kelly.
Today he has more on Facebook's e-commerce push, Snapchat's new version of augmented reality Spectacles and the aftermath of Eurovision.
Find out more and access the full archive at www.colinkelly.net
Jargon free tech updates every day.
Hear us on some of the world's greatest radio stations - find out more at www.colinkelly.net
Colin Kelly's Digital Minute has the latest from the search giant's 2021 I/O conference.
Reaction to some big celebrity announcements
And another country gets tough with Amazon
Colin Kelly is back with your 60 second, jargon free tech update.
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A new app to help brainstorms
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Hi tech hits bar-b-qs
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Mario Golf is coming...and it's fast
Colin Kelly has your 60 second daily tech and social media briefing.
Hootsuite researches optimum time to post on Facebook and Instagram
We look ahead to Googe's Developer Conference
is it time up for Captchas?
Colin Kelly looks at cyber security every Friday.
Today we explore your internet browser privacy and security settings.
Colin Kelly looks at cyber security every Friday.
Today we explore your internet browser privacy and security settings.
YouTube launches Shorts fund for creators
Try this cool mobile photography trick
Facebook tackles fake news
Clubhouse arrives on Android
HSBC goes Zoom Free on Fridays
You should know about What3Words
Football and politics dominates social media
Friends star's daughter goes viral in singing clip
New app can tell if you're depressed
Colin Kelly explains a key criteria for success on Tik Tok.
Make videos where people do things, rather than videos where organisations say things.
Colin Kelly is here with your daily tech and social media update.
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Facebook ponders Donald Trump ban
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Google lets more staff work from home
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Playstation Network to add Discord
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A weird website for cat lovers
Rule 3 from Colin Kelly's 3 Golden Rules For Social Media Success...give them something they want to share.
More on this in the Amazon small business best selling book 'Embrace The Space' by Gary Ennis and Colin Kelly available at www.embracethespacebook.com
Colin Kelly is back with the Digital Minute for Wednesday 5 May 2021.
Fancy following the Apple court case live? Check it out here: https://cand.uscourts.gov/cases-e-filing/cases-of-interest/epic-games-inc-v-apple-inc/
Whatever business you're in, you should be automatically asking for and receiving feedback from customers.
Colin Kelly explains how Amazon Prime users can make the most of the Twitch streaming service.
There's details of a digital chair that supposedly 'could never be made'
And we look at tools to help with music making.
Basecamp's boss wants his staff to cut out discussion of 'societal issues' on company time and on company communication channels.
This has provoked a backlash with several members of staff leaving. And it's thrown up a wider debate - just how much politics should be allow in the workplace?
Colin Kelly has a few thoughts to share.
Beat testing continues at the once mighty Bebo...back for 2021
Football's social media silence ends tonight
Apple in court again against Fortnite maker.
Colin Kelly is back with a cyber security special for a Friday.
What most people don't know about hacking - and a simple step to help stay safe.
It's the Digital Minute with Colin Kelly for Thursday 29 April 2021.
Galaxy Notebook heads to the UK.
Sport social media silence grows
UK digital divide 'reduced' during lockdown
Have you asked Alexa, 'Who Is H?'
Colin Kelly with your essential tech and digital news.
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New iPhone software update
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Wearable tech to track your emotions
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John Mayer teaches guitar on TikTok
Colin Kelly is here with Tuesday's Digital Minute
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Spotify UK price increase
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BuzzFeed mocks the Oscars
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Is Samsung planning Galaxy laptops?
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Twitter might be planning a 'Tip' button.
More at www.colinkelly.net
Daniel Kaluuya's mum goes viral
Chloe Zhao trending after Best Director win
Oscars goes Zoom free, not everyone happy.
Be honest. Is it really social media you 'don't get' or might it be computer and technology in general?
Understanding the root of the issue is the key to putting it right. No amount of motivation or leadership guru is going to help if you don't sort out the basics.
This came to mind recently when I realised my attitude to DIY was similar to some clients' attitude to all things tech and digital. Convinced myself I'm no good, can't do it, expect the project to fail. Feel embarrassed about it and that I shouldn't even try.
That's how some people feel about technology. Maybe it's someone you work with.
Today's top digital and social media stories with Colin Kelly.
Amazon shows off AI in its new hair salon
2 tools for Twitter users to try
A new era for podcasts
We've all worked with people who seem to be key members of the team to the point where we can't imagine them leaving.
What happens when they do? Today's BBC News says many staff - perhaps a third - who are approaching retirement age are choosing to go early as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is exactly what I predicted several months ago.
China leads digital currency race
Centrstage is major talking point from Apple event
Discord / Microsoft tie up looks off
Pinterest makes copyright claims easier
Sick of products following you round the internet? Take back your cookies!
Self driving ferry developed in Germany
Facebook's audio plans.
More at www.colinkelly.net
Use your phone to control YouTube on your TV
Schedule Facebook/Instagram stories from Business Suite
Rumours ahead of Apple event: iPads and Air Tags.
Amazon ditches Lord of the Rings game
www.colinkelly.net
Trying to do too much at once.
I thought I was having a private conversation with my cable television provider.
Turned out I was speaking to a scammer.
Find out what happened when they asked for my card details.
Work together - beat the algorithms and learn from Glens, Hutchison, Robertson and Stepek.
If members of your target audience see the same sponsored Facebook post again and again, it might start to annoy them.
You can avoid this....
I don't know. Because I don't know your business, your sector or your audience.
But it's certainly something we should discuss. And here's why....
Facebook and Instagram ramp up 'like' hides experiment
Virgin Mobile + 02 deal on
Ford to unveil hands free system
Whatever stage you are at, whatever size your business, our media relations training will help you communicate with clarity and personality.
Colin Kelly from Comsteria outlines what you can expect from a media relations training course delivered 1-1 or for you and your team, via Zoom or MS Teams.
From speaking about your organisation with confidence and credibility to high stakes crisis management - we are here to help you get your point across and get the credit you deserve.
Call us today to find out more on 0141 628 8288 or email colin@comsteria.co.uk
Facebook tests video dating app
Microsoft spends big on telehealth
Is this the future of fragrances?
Apple Privacy In The Spotlight
Nintendo Switch Supply Warnings
National Rail Enquiries Accessibility Blunder
Social media remembers the life of the Duke Of Edinburgh
Google Trends looks at fast growing hobbies
An answer to Zoom fatigue
A special edition of Colin Kelly's Digital Minute looking at how the news of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh is being reflected across social media platforms.
Cyber Security Special
Would you know what to do if you suffered a cyber attack on your computing equipment?
Individuals and businesses are at risk from viruses, and ransomware which locks you out of your equipment with frightening warning notices saying you won’t be able to access any files unless you pay the criminals.
Some victims make things worse by trying to solve the problems themselves.
If you’re concerned you’ve been targeted - disconnect equipment from the internet, consider turning off your router and speak to a computer repair professional. But don’t go searching online for solutions as some of these links can contain malicious code themselves.
The Scottish Government publishes a Cyber Resilience Bulletin, you can report cyber crime to the police and Citizens Advice can also offer support.
Remember it’s not just computers that are at risk - mobile devices such as phones and tablets can be involved too.
If you run a website, make sure it’s kept up to date with the latest security patches, take advice on anti virus software and remember don’t click links in emails unless you trust the sender and are sure about where it’s taking you.
Meditation apps are big business
YouTube Kids criticised
Will I Am launches hi-tech face mask
Mars helicopter flight live stream
Facebook support for Ramadan
Thethered drones for events and disaster zones?
Captions coming for Tik Tok
Games lost forever when Playstation stores close
Facebook data breach 'historical'
Some stats about the internet to boggle your mind
X Box beats Skittles in battle of the brands
A scam warning for WhatsApp users
Not everyone loves Linkedin's new look
Can Lego bricks make our world more sustainable?
Delete those Tweets you regret
Google Maps goes eco friendly
Spotify gets in on live audio.
Counting begins in US Amazon union vote
Watch those automatic subscription renewals
Tik Tok gets playlists
A blow for users of Hootsuite's FREE plan.
And some alternatives if you're thinking of moving.
Explore the history of the internet
Will more footballers boycott social media?
A top if you've more than one link to feature in your Instagram biography.
Make money like an influencer.
Edinburgh company takes stamps digital.
Non profits get Canva Pro for free.
Social media not getting the return you would like?
Struggling to edit videos or design in Canva or Photoshop?
Make time to practice.
Advice on broadband speeds
Another new role for Prince Harry
A hot new feature for Instagram Stories creators.
Colin Kelly has your essential 60 second tech guide.
Colin Kelly has your daily essential tech update.
A new app that wants women to experience a healthier, easier menopause.
Competition in the email newsletter space.
And options if you value your online privacy.
Both are very good and give many business owners around the world exactly what they're after. If you intend to grow your business, Wordpress might have an advantage. But shop around and choose what is right for you - just keep THIS in mind.
Colin Kelly with more on Facebook's virtual reality plans and worried about a worldwide semi conductor shortage.
Social media ads and sponsored posts are lower cost than most mainstream media advertising...and can reflect what's going on in real-time.
Think about turning this safety feature ON.
Influencers warned to play by the rules.
Good news on broadband speed..but possible bad news for prices.
Colin Kelly is here with your essential digital update.
There's a battle raging for quality audio Zoom recordings.
Colin Kelly's Digital Minute for Thursday 18 March 2021.
Check back for more tomorrow.
Comsteria's Emma Baker discusses improving sound quality on smartphone videos and the importance of an external mic. She recommends some brands to consider - find out more at www.comsteria.co.uk/store
This clip is taken from the Smartphone Video Shows, Fridays at 1pm (UK) on the Comsteria YouTube Channel.
I tried a 'gadget detox' back in 2009. A producer from the TV show I worked on at the time put all my technology into a fishtank and secured the lid with a padlock.
I lasted about 36 hours before I broke in.
Social media detoxes are tricky.
But there's an easy step you can take that should help.
First - they started reporting entertainment as news and sport as news.
Then...opinion. And we are all playing straight into their hands.
Opinion is news. Opinion is big business. Opinion is wrecking our reputations. The fightback starts here.
If you are creating video content that features your boss (or alone prominent in your organisation), we strongly urge against using a script.
Listen to our latest podcast to find out why and check out our Smartphone Video Production and Presentation Skills on demand training courses at www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand
Twitch...YouTube...Facebook Live...Instagram Live....
More individuals and businesses are finding live streaming to be fun and productive - isn't it time you got involved?
In this 18 minute podcast, Colin Kelly from Comsteria shares some of the essentials to get you started on your live streaming journey. There's information on software, equipment, platforms and the attitude and set up you'll need to get results.
Look out for our new course 'Live Stream Your Business' coming soon.
And contact us with any questions.
Part of Comsteria's 'rough cuts' series of short, snappy tips, tricks and insight to help your communications strategy.
Want more? Subscribe! And check out our full on demand training library.
In this podcast, Colin Kelly looks ahead to the launch of 2 new channels in the UK - Andrew Neil's GB News and News UK, backed by Rupert Murdoch. What should we expect? And what about the new programmes launched recently by BBC Scotland?
Part of our new 'rough cuts' series of short, snappy tips and tricks to raise your profile and manage your reputation.
Colin Kelly from Comsteria outlines the opportunities presented by in-flight magazines when looking for media outlets to feature in.
Like what we do? Subscribe! And check out our on demand training courses for business owners and communications professionals.
In this episode, Colin Kelly from Comsteria tries to explain 'Strategy' and the difference between 'Objective - Strategy - Tactics'.
It seems to be an issue that causes some confusion in business, so Colin has a go at setting it straight and explaining how he thinks it all works. This is heavily influenced by Alastair Campbell's book 'Winners And How They Succeed' which is well worth a read.
Audacity is a highly popular, widely supported audio editing software.
But it can be problematic for some with the latest versions of the Mac operating system. In addition, many of our clients will already have Garageband on their device and some larger comms teams may already subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud and will therefore have access to the Adobe Audition audio editor.
In this episode we explore some of the issues with Audacity and available alternatives.
How might musicians use TikTok to sell tickets to gigs when the music business recover from COVID-19 lockdown and opens up again?
I've an idea.
What do CEOs actually do?
What's their specific job? Why do they get paid superior wages and sometimes extremely attractive bonuses?
What should their role be in a crisis situation?
And should Chief Executives of football clubs behave more like Chief Executives of other businesses?
I'd love to hear from you if you are a CEO and you have a view on what I've said in this podcast. Tell me what you did today that couldn't have been delegated.
Yvonne Lyon joins Colin Kelly for a special edition of the Comsteria podcast, to celebrate the release of her new album 'Growing Wild'.
The stunning collection of timeless songs is Yvonne's 10th full album release and further establishes Yvonne as one of Scotland's most prolific singer/songwriters.
'Growing Wild' is available now from www.yvonnelyonmusic.com and https://yvonnelyon.bandcamp.com
Listen as Yvonne and Colin discuss how the album came about, the realities of life of a musician in the COVID era and much more - as well as some exclusive excerpts from the songs.
Yvonne's work is regularly heard on BBC Radio and television and she's shared stages with artists including Eddie Reader and Beth Nielsen Chapman. Whether you are already familiar with Yvonne Lyon's voice, or searching for new music, this special edition of the podcast is an essential listen.
Some principles I try to follow when it comes to politics:
1) Friends first. Don't let politics come between us.
2) Don't demonise or disagree for the sake of it.
3) 'Them and us' = all working people vs inherited wealth
4) Recognise there is a limit to what politicians can achieve. Vow to do more ourselves by working together.
5) Power should always be questioned and challenged.
6) Widen participation in democracy
7) If you want change, be prepared to win an unfair fight.
Jason Leitch has been a key member of the Scottish Government COVID-19 daily briefing team. He's fronted adverts, given countless interviews and even appeared on mainstream entertainment programmes.
He has a senior role, a huge amount of expertise and experience and has won admirers for his down to earth approach to getting sometimes complex messages across.
With so many media appearances, it's no surprise there is much we can learn from him. In my professional opinion, he has also made some serious mistakes, which we can also learn from.
https://www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand
Celebrating the launch of our new on demand course 'Presenting With Confidence', Colin Kelly is here with some simple tips to help you get the results you want and to feel great when delivering presentations - whether you are speaking at a conference or event, online or offline, pitching to clients, briefing your own colleagues or delivering training - there's something in here for you.
Listen now and visit www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand to get the full course. Use promocode 'web20' at the checkout to save 20% on the £24.99 list price.
It's time our governments stopped letting big business rip the piss.
Start by demanding a bigger contribution from Amazon and the Premier League. If they won't up their game, Scotland should launch its own, national e-commerce platform.
Stop talking about 'what you're GOING to do'.
Do something that makes a difference, then reflect on how you did it.
Anyone can say 'we're going to be more diverse/we're going to innovate/x, y, z is at the heart of who we are going forward'.
The proof is in the pudding.
Don't waste my attention on mere intention.
You need currency in the game. You get that from action, results and outcomes. Not this morning's marketing brainstorm.
Some thoughts about the importance of systems for measuring success in business, comms and government.
We already have a 'Worldwide Happiness Index' published by the United Nations each year. What if we took that further, via an app onto every phone and judged our government against it?
Take a listen and join the conversation. Send your voice recordings via WhatsApp to 07758 211 585.
These 3 groups are among those most affected by the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions and in my view, are most likely to feel that they've fallen down the cracks and haven't received much support.
In this episode, I discuss why this is the case and what can be done and there are lessons here for businesses across all sectors.
Ultimately, I believe we all need to make a Positive Noise - even when times are good, rather than waiting until there's a crisis and things are going wrong.
At Comsteria, our mission is to help every organisation communicate more effectively. That could mean social media, the mainstream media, podcasting, video production or making sure your voice is heard by decision makers and people of influence.
In short, we want to give YOU more power and influence yourself.
Have a listen and get in touch if we can help. Send us an email.
2020 is proving to be quite a challenge for many of us, across many areas of our lives.
What steps can we take to navigate a way through for ourselves?
With much of the country expecting further COVD-19 lockdown restrictions this week, it seems like a good time to take stock and see what we can do to better equip ourselves to deal with it all.
If you run a business or work in corporate communications, Comsteria is here for you. Our mission is to help every organisation communicate more effectively. Visit www.comsteria.co.uk for free advice, insight and training courses.
I’m asking a listener’s question this time on the Comsteria podcast and we’ll discuss leaders on Twitter in more detail.
Do you have a communications related question you’d like me to answer? Get in touch via colin@comsteria.co.uk and I’ll answer it on the forthcoming episode.
Thanks everyone who has bought the ‘Embrace The Space’ book I’ve written with Gary Ennis from NSDesign. We’re thrilled with how it is doing and so many positive reviews. Thanks loads!
Episode 100 of the Comsteria podcast is fast approaching…I have some plans to mark the occassion and I’ll reveal more in our next episode.
Colin Kelly's in-depth review of the Sunday Post newspaper from September 6th 2020.
This paper is currently undergoing an intense marketing push, so how is it getting on?
Colin looks inside and gives his take on every aspect of the newspaper, helping you better understand its agenda, who its aimed at and its position in the market.
This is a concept made popular most recently by the leader of Team Sky, the British Cycling team.
The idea is that if you make tiny 1% improvements across every area of an activity, it all adds up to a big advantage.
It's a sound idea and worthy of further exploration. But how might it apply to your business or your comms team? And what else do you need to consider.
I share a few thoughts in this podcast. If you don't already...please subscribe! And get in touch with me through the Comsteria website.
A new single and video from a great friend of mine and hugely talented Scottish singer/songwriter.
Listen now at Yvonne Lyon on Bandcamp.
No cold calls. No excuses.
Set your sights on the person you want to connect with and do it.
In this episode, I discuss how social networks can open the doors you want and build relationships with people who can transform your life and work.
There's a knack to it and you need the right attitude. Be prepared to offer value.
Want more? Subscribe to this podcast and visit me online at www.comsteria.co.uk
I've felt this for ages but today's coverage of Adele's choice of costume to mark what would have been the Notting Hill Carnival has pushed me over the edge.
Of course there are instances where people's behaviour or opinions are so at odds with mainstream society and the law that they should be 'shut out' from public performance and debates. But to apply that same treatment to a pop star styling her hair a particular way or choosing to dress in particular clothes risks belittling very serious issues.
Issues around racism and sexism should not be treated as 'entertainment' stories and yet I believe they often are in our mainstream media. So I have a few thoughts to share and I'd like to know what you think. You can message me at colin@comsteria.co.uk
Comsteria is here to help your organisation communicate more effectively.
It's always disappointing when good organisations come across as cold and uncaring when they issue statements relating to historical allegations. I understand why it happens - your staff member is innocent until proven guilty and you've got HR and legal telling you to say as little as possible and let procedures and systems kick in. This isn't what the public want to hear. And it's a huge missed opportunity to let people see the caring organisation you are, to demonstrate good leadership, and most importantly, to ensure people who've had a bad experience of your organisation hear your words and feel valued. So how do you do it? A few thoughts from Colin in this podcast.
Comsteria's Colin Kelly and Gary Ennis from NSDesign have co-authored 'Embrace The Space', a new book which aims to help businesses get results from social media training.
Based on their popular social media training workshop of the same name, the book features chapters explaining how to increase the reach of your posts, ensure you stay on the right side of the law, tone of voice, customer service and much more. The book is jargon free and easy to follow and includes 'behind the scenes' stories from the 10 years Colin and Gary have spent helping businesses of all shapes and sizes from throughout the UK get results from social media and all things digital.
In this episode of the Comsteria podcast, Colin explains more and gives you a free preview reading. 'Embrace The Space' on Amazon.
Douglas Ross, the recently appointed leader of the Scottish Conservatives is the subject of articles on the Evening Express and Press and Journal websites today.
The headlines state: 'Douglas Ross - I'll halt pro-indy surge with unrelenting war on SNP' - but did he actually use that word 'war'?
And if we assume he didn't, what should you do to deal with newspapers that might put words in your mouth or make things sound more dramatic than they actually are?
A head to head newspaper review of the Daily Record and Scottish Daily Mail.
At Comsteria, we believe everyone benefits from a better understanding of the media. We are pleased to bring you these regular, in-depth newspaper reviews on the Comsteria podcast.
Subscribe to receive each episode automatically.
Part of our mission at Comsteria is to help you understand the media. Whether you are trying to proactively raise your profile, or if you believe the media might take an interest in what you are doing, (whether you want coverage or not) understanding more about how the newspaper sees the world can be beneficial.
In this series on the Comsteria podcast, I'll be conducting in-depth critiques of all the major newspapers and their associated websites. In this first critique, I'm looking at the Scottish Daily Express.
Comsteria Limited is a training and consultancy based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our mission is to help every organisation communicate more effectively. We deliver crisis PR advice, social media training, smartphone video production and training and podcast training and production.
If you work in retail or hospitality, one of the biggest issues you face right now, post COVID-19 lockdown, is customer fear.
Many are worried about coming back. What's it going to be like? Will it be safe? Will it be fun? Is it worth the bother?
You can put your customers are ease by SHOWING them what it's like, and video is the most powerful way of doing it. Our Smartphone Video Production training is available now as an on demand video. What when you like, where you like, or any device. Watch the trailer and grab a discount code now at www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand The course covers everything from how to use your phone to take good quality footage, advice around sound, adding music and captions, transitions, effects and more. You've made changes to your business to accommodate social distancing, so show you customers what you've done and how things are going to be. Put them at ease. The smartphone in your pocket is capable of producing extremely high quality video and our training will equip you to cut together simple, effective clips that will reassure your customers. Watch the trailer now.
Imposter syndrome holds back too many good people. And it prevents businesses getting the most out of teams. We need to tackle it.
I'n not sure imposter syndrome can be entirely removed or overcome but we can learn to live with it. In this episode, I share a technique I've seen work really well. I'm Colin Kelly and I run Comsteria, a training and consultancy for business owners and communications professionals. Check out our on demand training courses, available now.
Our 'Secrets of Successful Podcasting' video on demand training is available now at www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand it's your complete guide to starting a podcast, including audio editing tutorials. Click the link and watch the free trailer.
In this episode Colin Kelly shares some quick advice for businesses planning to launch their own podcast.
Buy 2 different newspapers on the same day and read them cover to cover. Repeat each week. This will help you understand how things work and you'll get ahead. Newspapers don't just tell you 'what's happening', analysing them, figuring out why stories run, where they come from and how different organisations treat them will give you valuable insight into how things work - and that's an advantage that's going to help you.
Facebook has been outmanoeuvred. There's huge crossover between Facebook and Instagram. There's very little between Microsoft owned Linkedin and their acquisition target TikTok. Like this episode? Visit Comsteria online and discover our world of smartphone video training, media relations consultancy, podcast training and production and much more.
It's time for business and the rest of the public and private sectors to stand up and support the young people who have been treated appallingly this year by those supposed to treat them fairly.
If you share 'Come And Work In Stem' and 'NoWrongPath' type content but stay silent when young people and their teachers are mistreated like this, you risk being regarded as patronising and anything you say about young people lacks credibility.
Stand up and make your voice heard. The 2020 exam results downgrade is unacceptable. Relying on the appeals process is not enough. We want an apology from the SQA and Education Minister John Swinney now and action taken to sort things out.
With so many social networking platforms to choose from, it's wise to prioritise and focus your efforts on the areas likely to deliver the greatest return. Twitter is well known and gets talked about a lot, but can it be of any real value to your business?
It works for me but there are some specific reasons why, as I'll explain in this podcast, as well as outlining what I think it could do for you.
Think like a news organisation, or a publisher. Treat your published posts like they have to fight for space in your shop window, or on the front page of your newspaper. Have arguments and tension among your team about what goes in and what stays out. Take pride in the content you distribute.
In this episode, Comsteria's Emma Baker interviews business owner Janine Neil, from Big Kids Little Learners about the role video is playing in her business growth. There's also a special discount code where you can save 20% on our Smartphone Video Production on demand training course. Find out more at www.comsteria.co.uk/ondemand
10 years of social media training is coming your way in Embrace The Space: The Book, by Colin Kelly and Gary Ennis.
I'm really looking forward to this book being published, probably in early September. We've shared the early drafts with friends and clients and the reviews are excellent with lots of people telling us they enjoy the humour and have found the advice really useful.
Find out more here, and listen to this episode for more details about what to expect.
I've seen some good people end up very upset recently because they've had an unpleasant experience discussing important, topical issues on Twitter.
Having used Twitter since its very early days, I'm firmly of the opinion that it's not a channel you should use if you are expecting a well mannered reasonable discussion with someone. It simply wasn't built for that.
In this episode I explore why and offer some advice relating to what you could do instead. Twitter offers us easy reach or 'cheap heat' - if you've something of substance to say, you might need to sacrifice some of that reach, in favour of an audience that's genuinely interested in what you have to say, rather than simply ramming their own point of view down your throat.
The author JK Rowling shared concerns about proposed legislation, relating to gender recognition. In doing so, she explained that she experienced abuse and violence earlier in her life. The retailer, The Body Shop responded, by tagging her in a Tweet.
In this episode, I share some thoughts on this and talk more generally about social media and finding the appropriate tone of voice for a brand.
Colin shares what he believes is the most important question a business will ever ask, and encourages you to ask it more often.
This episode also includes some suggestions from Colin's Linkedin followers, who share what they consider to be the most important question for a business to ask.
Thanks for listening! You can find out more about Colin Kelly and Comsteria by visiting www.comsteria.co.uk
From our forthcoming 'Ultimate Podcasting' video on demand training course, this episode looks at specific arrangements for podcasting to an internal audience.
Should you lock your podcast down and your own staff only? How do you do it? What tools can help and what are the pros and cons?
Give me 10 minutes, and I'll give you all that you need to know.
Your pricing says more about your brand than your logo. I genuinely believe this and I'd urge small business owners and freelancers to start thinking more seriously about price.
When and how to discount. What's your product or service actually worth? Do you understand and appreciate your self worth? Do you take pride in your pricing.
This is an essential lesson for new starts.
Don't be the business owner or communications professional that only surrounds themselves with other people in the same line of work.
Step outside your bubble and get some new inspiration from arts, culture, music and others walks of life.
Get in on the land grab.
Take your user name and carve out your niche - it's up for grabs now!
Colin Kelly explains more about why Tik Tok should be on your radar and how it works.
What's the big advantage TikTok has over other social platforms?
Come on in and find out.
What businesses and communications professionals need to know about the fast growing video platform TikTok.
No easy stats or marketing chat in here - this is looking at the platform itself, what is it, understanding it and why you should respect and get to know it.
In this episode Colin explains how table tennis is being used to rejuvenate an empty retail unit in a shopping centre.