Live from Level 3

03.05.2020/02.30

Finally, a podcast (or is it a blogcast, since it’s on my blog?) where I’m not “reacting” to something that Olivia St Redfern has put on her Leisure Lounge series. Here are some musings about where we’re at, now we are at Level 3. Some of my friends, especially my Natcoll students from 1999–2000, […]

Is Facebook lying to customers about who has seen their ads?

13.04.2020/09.05

Not withstanding that I can’t edit my advertising preferences on Facebook—they took that ability away from me and a small group of users some time ago (and, like Twitter, they are dead wrong about what those preferences are)—I see they now lie about what ads I’ve seen and clicked on. I can categorically say […]

Are you doing on Facebook what Facebook does on Facebook? They’ll sue you

10.04.2020/08.19

Pxfuel/Creative Commons CC0 1·0 Here’s quite a funny one for you this Easter weekend: Facebook apparently has filed suit against companies that do the following, according to Social Media Today. • Companies that sell fake followers and likes, which Facebook has pushed harder to enforce since New York’s Attorney General ruled that selling fake social […]

Are you a scam artist? Facebook loves you, and protects you

04.04.2020/09.55

The Royal New Zealand Ballet generously put its Hansel & Gretel performance from November 2019 online for free this weekend, choosing Facebook as its medium. That, naturally, attracts scam artists, putting in false links in order to charge credit cards. Many Kiwis were duped. The RNZB reported many, and so have I. All six of […]

Is there a type that works from home more easily?

27.03.2020/07.45

Olivia St Redfern has featured yours truly in her lockdown day 2, part 1 podcast, so I decided to record another response. It brings to mind something Steve McQueen once said. ‘I’m not an actor. I’m a reactor.’ As in, he could react to a line from another actor. Anyone who has seen […]

Twelve things I do to keep balanced while working from home

17.03.2020/23.08

When I was 13, my father became self-employed after being made redundant at his work. By choice, my mother did the same when I was in my early 20s. They both loved the lifestyle and I imagine it was inevitable I would do the same in my career, beginning at a time when I was […]

Don’t rely on an algorithm to choose your brand ambassadors

14.03.2020/23.23

Here’s a cautionary tale found by Lucire travel editor Stanley Moss. His words: ‘Photographer Dmitry Kostyukov recently experienced a rich dialogue with an algorithm belonging to a Scandinavian swimwear company. He’d been auto-mistaken for a Y chromosome, and digitally invited to become a brand ambassador. Dmitry accepted, and received the sample suit of his choice, […]

The British approach to coronavirus: by Grabthar’s hammer, what a savings

/09.29

Still from AFP video I’d far rather have the action taken by our government than the UK’s when it comes to flattening the curve on coronavirus, and the British response reminds me of this 2018 post. Just because the chief scientific adviser there has a knighthood and talks posh isn’t a reason to trust […]

Coronavirus: the weakening of globalization, and the lessons to learn

12.03.2020/10.19

A generation ago, I don’t think many would have thought that globalization could be brought to its knees by a virus. They may have identified crazy politicians using nationalism as a tool, but probably considered that would not happen in developed economies and democracies sophisticated enough to withstand such assaults. This course correction might […]