The week’s posts on a single page (most recent at the top):
Dog Eat Dog
Another topic that we need education on: smartphone apps (particularly Android) that abuse our phone and privacy. Here’s a recent example:
Vidmate:
- A Chinese Android app with hundreds of millions of downloads
- Enables users to download videos from YouTube, WhatsApp and other platforms
- Allegedly, is “charging people, draining their batteries and exposing data without their knowledge”, and…
- “Has been displaying hidden ads, secretly subscribing people to paid services, and draining users’ mobile data”
BuzzFeed News has previously revealed ad fraud and other malicious behaviour in apps from major Chinese developers Cheetah Mobile, DO Global, and Kika Tech.
Sources: Buzzfeed News, Upstream Systems and Benedict’s Newsletter.
Step It Up
Everything a company does, or an individual freelancer for that matter, is marketing, so it’s worth aiming for professionalism and awareness even with (especially with) the small things.
It includes:
- The aggressive way the plumber drives his van
- The lazy way the receptionist at the dentist answers the phone
- The freelancer who repeatedly turns up late or sends emails without the promised attachment
- The way my car insurance company tells me that my “call is important” and then ignores it for 20 minutes
- The flimsy business card that says ‘Vistaprint’ on it (and is given to you by someone who doesn’t work at Vistaprint)
- The British Airways email about the flight back to London I’ve booked with them that asks if I’m “Excited yet?” and suggests “Let’s explore your trip to London”, when the flight won’t happen for another six months and I’ve lived there my whole life
I Second That Emotion
I’ve just read a Facebook post written by a friend:
People making jokes about Jamie’s Italian going into administration need to remember the chain employed a lot of people many who now live with uncertainty about what the future holds. Social media seriously brings out the worst in people.
Listen To What The Man Said
The ability to follow instructions is crucial, and something that schools have always been very good at teaching, given that they were invented to teach compliance having originally trained people who’d moved from the farm to the factory.
Occasionally I struggle with instructions, particularly if they’re poorly written or concern something dull, like resetting a wifi transmitter.
Unsurprisingly I found that the thing only worked when I followed the instructions to the letter, and didn’t when I’d pretended I was reading them (ie I took in only what I wanted to read, or thought I should be reading).
So while I think it’s worth teaching kids to go off-road where necessary, the ability to follow instructions is essential.
Hard to Handle
Sometimes I have images I want to use in a post on this blog or a client’s but the files don’t upload.
Experience has taught me that it’s probably because the files are too big and I need to reduce their size and the dimensions of the pics themselves.
I recommend three sites for the job:
- Compressjpeg.com (use this one first)
- Tinyjpg.com (use this after compressjpeg.com)
- Picresize.com (to reduce the size of the picture itself)
Sky Starts Falling
I realised recently that I don’t have many photos of my dad, and none at all of me and him together.
But I do have the video for Sky Starts Falling by Doves, which he’s in:
Pictures of You
“The most important thing about being a dad is turning up, being there.”
I heard that a few years ago and think it’s so true. Children crave their parents’ attention and recognition and the best way to recognise them is to be attentive and give them our time.
There were moments when I was a boy that I felt like I had to tell jokes just to make my dad notice me.
So what happens when I’m working abroad, when I can’t ‘be there’?
I use social media, WhatsApp and Skype and do my best to stay connected with family.
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