I don't have a great memory. I often meet people who remember me, but I don't remember them. I've had whole conversations with people who clearly know me, but on whom I've drawn a blank. My phone's address book has a "notes" field, and mine is peppered with little aide memoirs about the people I've met. Things like this: And, I guess we've all got a contact like this, right? (Sorry, Geoff!) But there's no way to do that on Twitter or LinkedIn or any other social network I'm aware…
Continue reading →
I get a lot of random Twitter DMs from attractive women who are desperate to make friends with me. I usually report the obvious spammers. But a few weeks ago, one nearly slipped through the net. The woman was wearing a military uniform - a proper one, not a sexy Hallowe'en costume - and was asking a fairly sensible question of me. But something didn't sit right. Usually, these accounts have stolen photos and random names. But the name of the account matched the name on the uniform! A bit…
Continue reading →
This book demonstrates how popular culture can be successfully incorporated into medical and health science curriculums, capitalising on the opportunity fictional media presents to humanise case studies. Studies show that the vast majority of medical and nursing students watch popular medical television dramas and comedies such as Grey’s Anatomy, ER, House M.D. and Scrubs. This book is currently free on the Springer website - and it's a brilliant read. I thought this was going to be an "…
Continue reading →
Way back when Blackberry was the smartphone, my team at Vodafone obsessed over the idea of the "Unified Inbox". "What if," the marketing chaps said, "you could see all your notifications in one place!" Imagine a single inbox where your MySpace friend requests mingled with your Email. And your Facebook and Google Buzz notifications were in the same list. It was a lovely idea. And users all proclaimed that was what they wanted. But users lie. And good ideas fail when they come into contact…
Continue reading →
(Another in a long list of posts which will turn out to be touchingly naïve!) When teaching people about safe sex, one topic bitterly divides people - whether abstinence is a suitable method. Simply refusing to engage in sexual activity will protect you from pregnancy, disease, and trauma. Abstinence is particularly promoted by religious zealots. Similarly, whenever social media is discussed, privacy zealots proclaim that the only safe option is to jUSt dELeTE FaCEBooK! The problem with …
Continue reading →
You're sat in a pub, chatting with your mates. You start to moan about how the cheap lager they serve gives you a headache. All of a sudden, a stranger runs up to you and says: "Oh no! Headaches? Have you tried the refreshing taste of Pepsi® Cola? It's the Flavour That Keeps Giving™!" I suspect you would complain to the bar manager and then find a new watering hole. You might, perhaps, tell the stranger never to contact you again. And, yet, this is what happens fairly regularly on Twitter. I…
Continue reading →
Back when social networks were new, Twitter was a great place to raise a complaint with a company. You could be sure that the Twitter account was run by someone who got social and, more often than not, would show tweets to the CEO. Sadly, Twitter corporate accounts now all follow the same script "Gosh! That doesn't sound good! Let us put this right. Please DM us your customer number, surname, mother's maiden name, and blood type and we'll get right on to ignoring you." Bah! LinkedIn doesn't…
Continue reading →
When you share a URl on services like Twitter and WhatsApp, they often display a preview image. This is usually accomplished by the author of the page selecting an image from the page, and adding it to the Page's metadata like this: <meta property="og:image" content="http://example.com/preview.png"/> (See the OpenGraph Protocol and Twitter's Guide for more detailed information.) But not every page has an obvious "hero" image. You can use the same default icon for all previews - but that…
Continue reading →
Upon joining the hyper-local social network "Nextdoor" - users are asked to verify their postal address. One option they offer is to have them send you a card in the post. So, I signed up, entered my address, and waited. A few days later, this popped through my letterbox. A few random thoughts... ✅ This is a nifty way to lightly verify someone's address! A service could ask for scans of utility bills, or driving licences, but this is a lot simpler. ✅ Bulk mailing seems to cost around 25p…
Continue reading →
I'm turning into an old curmudgeon. Either that, or the new wave of social marketing has severely missed its intended target. Let me ask you a question, do you want to be friends with your utility company? Your phone provider? Your soft drinks manufacturer? I don't mean "follow-on-social-media" friends - I mean actual buddies. On the face of it, that's a ridiculous question. You can no more be friends with a conglomerate than you can trust a politician. When your local MP comes knocking…
Continue reading →
Earlier this year, I received an offer from a sleazy marketing company to place adverts on this blog - on the express understanding that they were not identified as sponsored posts. I reported the company - Media Discovery - to the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) who, after a perfunctory investigation, decided not to prosecute. They bought the unlikely story that Media Discovery had a rogue employee trying to entice bloggers into breaking the law. Well, the constant stream of visitors…
Continue reading →
The UK has the notion of a "strict liability" law. If you are caught with a picture of child abuse - you're guilty of a crime. It doesn't matter if it was sent to you unsolicited, or misaddressed. Possession is the crime and there are no mitigating circumstances. On that cheery note, let's consider Twitter's new image embedding functionality. If your friends post a photo onto Twitter, you will see it in your timeline automatically. No need to click on anything. (As an aside, that's a…
Continue reading →
