This little telephone tip has a sweet subliminal effect on the person you’re talking to—or at least wards off a sour one. Even after you’ve both said good-bye, let the other person hang up first. Why? Because people don’t like someone to “hang up on them.” And when they hear your click, it gives them an, albeit irrational, subconscious sense that you did just that.
Whether you believe it or not, why take a chance? Whenever talking on the phone, let the other person hang up first. It only takes a second, and your “good-bye” is a sweeter last sound to their ears than CLICK.
Have you ever struggled to get the media or public to understand complicated issues / campaigns that your organisation is driving? Have you ever wished you could create your own infographics, graphics, or illustrations for your campaigns? Well, you’ll have an opportunity this weekend to learn to create infographics & charts in minutes … and win cash prizes in the process.
The Lagos chapter of the global Hacks/Hackers network is hosting a free crash-course at the Co-Creation Hub on Saturday, January 11. The meetup will start at 11am sharp, and will offer hands-on + one-on-one training using www.DataWrapper.de to create news graphics that will help you simplify complex stories for your audiences. DataWrapper is a simple visualisation tool specially created for newsrooms, and used by everyone from Twitter and the UK Guardian, to various African media. The training is free-of-charge, and will be led by a team of experts from YourBudgIT.com. The best infographics or data-driven visualisations created at the workshop will win prizes totalling $250.
Hacks/Hackers is a global network of journalists and technologists and social justice activists interested in using the power of new technologies (such as mobile phones, open data, and social media) to improve the way that media engages with the public. Local chapters like the Lagos one host monthly meetings, where members get free training, hear international speakers, or work as teams with developers to build news apps, news tools, and news websites.
The Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has released the fifth report of the World Internet Project.
This year’s report, a global partnership of research institutions that compiles data on the behavior and views of Internet users and non-users worldwide, includes findings from eight of the project’s 34 partner countries: Cyprus, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States.
The other partners in the World Internet Project are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macao, New Zealand, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Studies by the World Internet Project explore the evolution of communication technology through findings on 75 subject areas in 10 broad categories:
Internet Users and Non-users
Information Seeking Online
Access to Online Services
The Internet and Social Connections
Politics and the Internet
Media Use, Reliability, and Importance
User-generated Content and Social Media
Online Entertainment
Online Purchasing and Personal Privacy
Online Communication
As always, if you have questions about our work, you can reach us on info@digitalcenter.org.
StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA. Please share widely to help us spread the message that we will not stand for the dragnet surveillance of our communications.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit civil liberties law and advocacy center that has been fighting the NSA’s unconstitutional spying for years.
The Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria cordially invites you and your colleagues to attend a seminar presented by Dr Anthon Botha, CEO of Technoscene on 27 November 2013. He will reflect on:
Tomorrow’s world – future technologies
In many instances tomorrow’s world exists today, we just do not know it, or we are ignoring what could be if we employ all the knowledge and tools that we have. What is changing the world? To a large extent it is technology and the behaviour of people. We are propelled into the future by paradigm shifts, mobile life and apps, e-publishing, big data, virtuality, the generation shift, 3d printing uk, the Cloud and other developments. If we properly align the opportunities these present us, the future is an exciting place. But to survive all that excitement, we have to think differently about knowledge; the power of mass collaboration; the markets; geospatiality; social revolutions; customer expectations; and convergence of technologies, societies and humans and machines. Are we ready for tomorrow? Mind-boggling facts about new economic powers, the population explosion, and new ways of work may scare us or excite us. The choice is yours.
Biographical information: Dr Anthon Botha is a has-been physicist, strategist, futurist, sentimentalist and optimist. He runs TechnoScene, a company that he started 25 years ago and consults in the realms of science, engineering, technology and innovation. He spends a lot of time in the future, creating images of what is to be for his clients based on his understanding of technology trends and the way people and markets will behave. He sees knowledge as the new currency and constantly seeks for understanding of how the world of work, play, living and transactions is changing. He is part-time academic guiding young people in the world of new ventures, full-time consultant assisting his clients to strategise, facilitator where he herds proverbial cats into agreeing on what they are saying, nature lover, traveller and photographer.
Most people start their email messages with the recipient’s name. Example: “Maya, I really enjoyed meeting you.” But it sounds more personal if you use it at the END of the sentence: “I really enjoyed meeting you, Maya.”
When you have something really important to convey, use their name in the MIDDLE of a sentence to make that particular point jump out. Instead of just telling Chuck that “It is crucial that you come to the meeting,” drive it home by writing, “It is crucial, Chuck, that you come to the meeting.”
A final note: It’s super warm and fuzzy to put their name as the final word in the message. Hearing their own name last is more pleasurable (and original) than “Sincerely,” “Best” or “Thanks.” Close your email with the “sweetest sound in the English language” to them–which is, of course, their own name.
Of course, don’t overdo their name – once or twice is per message is enough!
Mexico City – Mexico has found a new heroine: A 12-year-old math whiz from a state plagued by drug violence who was dubbed “The Next Steve Jobs” by a US magazine. The youngest of eight children from a modest family, Paloma Noyola was thrown under the media spotlight since Wired magazine featured the black-haired girl on its cover two weeks ago.
She has appeared in national newspapers and on cable news, redubbed “La Nina Jobs” – “The Jobs Girl” – with photographers and cameramen chasing the girl nicknamed after Apple’s late founder. This week, she travelled from her hometown of Matamoros, in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, to the hustle and bustle of Mexico City for a mental math competition.
“I’m very happy. If you want it, you can do it,” said Noyola.
With so much attention on the girl, Tamaulipas state officials who flew in with her shielded Noyola from the press pack. She sat alone at a large table and was whisked away after the contest organised by the Tecnologico de Monterrey University ended. But she did not win the contest.
Last year, the girl whose school lies next to a dump across the US border wowed the country when she scored the maximum 921 in the national standardised exam, the best in Mexico. Her father died of lung cancer last year and her family earns an income from selling scrap metal and food in Matamoros, a city tormented for years by a turf war between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.
Minimally invasive education
While Noyola made the cover of Wired, it was her teacher’s radical methods that featured prominently in the magazine’s story. Sergio Juarez Correa, aged 32, saw his entire class’s Spanish and math scores dramatically improve after he implemented a new approach, allowing students to tap into their own curiosity and self-learning to solve problems.
The school is located in a “punishment zone” for education, dubbed that way because no professor wants to be there due to the high level of crime and dismal infrastructure. The school lacks basic services such as running water, drainage or a telephone line – an all-too-common problem in Mexican classrooms.
“If Paloma had the same opportunities or open doors as Steve Jobs, she probably would be a genius in this subject,” Juarez told AFP.
Two of Noyola’s classmates disappeared midway through the school year without anybody knowing why.
“The Mexican education system is like a bus with broken seats, wheels in bad shape and a broken engine that must climb a hill,” Juarez said.
The education system of Latin America’s second economy ranks last among the 34 nations of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December, pushed through an education reform in a country where less than half of high school students are expected to graduate.
Juarez lamented that the government’s reform lacks plans to improve school infrastructure. The Wired article noted how his school lacked computers.
We are living in a time of great transition for digital romance. A new study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, released Monday, found that 59 percent of American Internet users believe that “online dating is a good way to meet people,” a 14-point jump since 2005. Among Americans who identify themselves as “single and looking,” 38 percent say they’ve used a dating site or app to try to meet a match. But 21 percent of plugged-in Americans still think that “people who use online dating sites are desperate.” (In 2005, 29 percent of them said so.) Even 13 percent of people who date online consider themselves desperate. Though online dating has become normalized, it’s still seen as a little sad.
I’d submit that the framework of popular dating sites like Match.com and OkCupid only contribute to that notion. These sites still situate online dating as a meat market for semi-anonymous singles that’s disconnected from the rest of our online (and offline) identities. Our online dating profiles are typically not linked to our other public profiles, like Facebook and Twitter. And the sites’ matching strategies—which connect users based on questions they’ve answered about themselves—rely on a primitive idea of the interplay between digital technologies and human relationships. They assume that we can just plug our metadata into a computer, run it through an algorithm, scroll through a list of prospects sorted by the mathematical possibility that we’ll get along, and find someone. That’s just not how human relationships work—not on the Internet and not off. That’s particularly true for the 54 percent of online daters who have encountered a match they felt “seriously misrepresented themselves in their profile.”
We all know that the Internet can be a powerful tool for connecting people, so why do these sites still carry some stigma? Perhaps because the best connections, online and off, are made more holistically in the context of our everyday lives. This explains the success of Tinder, the hookup app that enables daters to assess photographs of other singletons in their general area, then right-swipe with their index finger when they like what they see. Tinder requires users to login through Facebook, which unfortunately only increases Mark Zuckerberg‘s creeping command over all online spaces. But it fortunately means that the dudes and ladies you’re meeting through the app are representing themselves roughly similarly to how they’re doing so on more public forms of social media. (Perhaps Zuckerberg was onto something with Facematch, the proto-Facebook that allowed Harvard students to check out potential hookups living in neighboring houses.) It helps that, in order to message someone on Tinder, you both have to “choose” each other, so you’re not inundated with missives from the creepiest users. (Pew also found that 42 percent of female online daters and 17 percent of male ones have experienced “uncomfortable or bothersome contact” on Internet dating sites.)
New findings from leading hi-tech analysts, Juniper Research, finds that more than 80% of the total enterprise and consumer owned smartphone device base will remain unprotected through 2013, despite a steadily increasing consumer awareness of mobile security products. These consumers need to know what is malware and how it will harm the security of their devices.
Juniper claims that the low level of adoption of security software can be attributed to a number of factors, including the relatively low consumer awareness about online attack on mobile devices and a widespread consumer perception that the price of security products is excessive.
The report found that nearly 1.3 billion mobile devices including smartphones, featurephones and tablets are expected to have mobile security software installed by 2018, up from around 325 million this year.
Increasing Risks for Mobile
The Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018 report found that security risks are also on the rise due to an explosion of mobile malware over the last two years. It found that cyber criminals are transitioning their focus from PCs onto the mobile platform – across both enterprise and consumer segments. These findings support Trend Micro’s data showing that that there will be more than 1 million malwares in the market by the end of this year.
Nevertheless, the report asserted that steadily increasing consumer awareness, allied to far greater visibility of product adoption levels, had resulted in rapid service adoption during H2 2012, leading to higher than anticipated service revenues.
Growth in the Enterprise Segment
Juniper found that growth in the enterprise space for security products is being fuelled by a number of factors, including increases in IT budgets and greater implementation of security policies and security products; along with training for employees. However, with the trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) where employees bring their own computing devices to the workplace becoming increasingly common, a single policy or measure may not be sufficient and a unified perspective on mobile platform risks is critical.
Other Key Findings
Despite the prevalence of free security software, the scale of cyber-crime’s expansion in the mobile arena offers a clear opportunity for the creation of a new revenue streams for mobile security providers.
Device manufacturers and security vendors need to strike a balance between security and user-friendliness.
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary. You can navigate to this website for more information on how your internet provider can help you secure your connection.
As more than half a million matrics in South Africa begin their exams soon, the hopes and dreams of our country rest on their shoulders. This is a huge responsibility for many teens who hope to succeed, despite tremendous adversity. Knowing they are not alone and having every South African rooting for them will help them be champions- not only today, but in the future as well.
Here are 10 practical tips all of us can follow to help our matrics:
Be patient and understanding by providing your 12th grader with silence, private space and support while he studies. Keep other children in the home quiet and away from him. Television and radio should be played softly so as not to distract the student. It is a good time to encourage silent reading in the family in support of the matric student. Family arguments should be taken outside where he can’t hear you. Worrying about family members will create an enormous amount of unnecessary anxiety and stress for him.
Have loads of healthy ”brain food” snacks around the house for him to munch on such as bananas, chocolate, fresh fruit and vegetables, watermelon, wholegrain bread and cereals, unsalted nuts, fresh water, and sugar- free chewing gum. Limit the amount of caffeine, sugar and energy drinks available to him. Provide healthy balanced meals which contain eggs, yoghurt, sweet potatoes, turkey, beef, and fish for omega 3 fatty acids. Supplement his diet with a tonic containing vitamins C, E, B6, B12, calcium, magnesium, and Alpha-lipoic Acid.
Invite your child to exercise with you during his breaks. Walk the dog or encourage your teen to join in a family dance/sing-a long. Even playing a quick game of table tennis or swimming can help release endorphins that enhance serotonin production, which combats feelings of depression and anxiety.
Take the pressure off your child. At this stage, your child needs support, patience and understanding. He is under enough strain as it is, so nagging him while writing exams is counterproductive. Help him to problem solve and think critically if the exams are proving to be difficult. Arguing about his untidy room is pointless at this stage.
Teach your teen perseverance. Even if he fails his matric exam, it is not the ‘end of the world.’ “Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success,” says Denis Waitley. People who ultimately succeed in life have the ability to pick themselves up, create a new path, and continue with determination. Devise a plan B with your 12th grader which he is excited about if things are not going well. “It matters if you just don’t give up,”says famous scientist Stephen Hawking
Be aware of signs of depression, negative self talk, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, changes in your teen’s personality, and behaviour such as withdrawing from the family. Seek help immediately through your family doctor. Alternatively contact the South African depression and anxiety group on 0800 20 50 26 or the suicide hotline on 0800 567 567.
Sleep is vitally important for a student to be able to concentrate in an exam, so spending nights studying is not conducive to good results. Encourage your teen to get eight hours of sleep by giving him a weighted blanket, I heard that Canadian weighted blanket companies – Gotta Sleep has the best blanket in the market. If he is having trouble falling asleep, play a meditation or sleep CD that could help him to control his breathing and thoughts.
Teach your 12th grader the power of positive thinking and visualisations. We don’t know the true power of the human brainl. Positive self- talk and creativity may help him through a difficult paper.”Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results,” says James Allen
Provide practical support in the form of tutors, study guides, study groups, and assistance from teachers. Even at the last minute a session with a good tutor or a chat with his Maths teacher can provide your child with valuable tips.
Remember to celebrate even the smallest success with your 12th grader, looking forward with optimism and enthusiasm. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”says Nora Roberts.
Good luck to you all! Recommended Resource: The IQ Answer by Dr. Frank Lawlis
We are living in a time of great transition for digital romance. A new study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, released Monday, found that 59 percent of American Internet users believe that “online dating is a good way to meet people,” a 14-point jump since 2005. Among Americans who identify themselves as “single and looking,” 38 percent say they’ve used a dating site or app to try to meet a match. But 21 percent of plugged-in Americans still think that “people who use online dating sites are desperate.” (In 2005, 29 percent of them said so.) Even 13 percent of people who date online consider themselves desperate. Though online dating has become normalized, it’s still seen as a little sad.