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Good Gadget Karma

By Chris Tomlinson on Mar 18, 12 01:01 PM in Media
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Among the many joys of owning a smartphone are the bouts of mild panic when the device cannot be found in the usual pocket.

For the feckless, losing a wallet used to be as bad as it got, but in the modern digital age, losing a phone is now so, so, so much worse. We rely on our little digital assistants so heavily that life is all but over when the DIY body frisk proves fruitless. 

But even assuming you have a recent backup and can get a replacement quickly, your problems might not be over if you phone falls into the wrong hands.

A recent project run by security firm, Symantec, deliberately "lost" 50 smartphones in cities throughout the US, each installed with tracking and logging software to see what would happen ?

Yesterday, the issue of media standards finally jumped the shark. Or rather, it loaned the horse.

News International's former boss Rebekah Brooks, stunt double for Pixar's heroinein forthcoming movie 'Brave', was purportedly the recipient of a loaned police horse from Scotland Yard.

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Twenty-seven minutes before mainstream media broke the news of Whitney Houston's death last Saturday the story was on Twitter.

The news was first tweeted by @ajaDiorNavy, with a mere 14 followers at the time, who's "Aunt Tiffany", an employee of Whitney's, found the diva dead in her bath.  An hour later it had been re-tweeted 2.5m times.

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Tradition dictates, in my last missive of the year, that I review the technology predictions I made in my first post of January. Unfortunately, it seems to have been deleted, so I'll have to stick to what actually happened instead!

 

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Last Thursday was national 'unfriend' day on Facebook, in the US at least! Although instigated by a comic, the now annual event has gained some resonance.

I, for one, am old enough to recall the real meaning of the word "friend" and know that having any more than six real friends is a right pain.

read more....

facebooks-grim-reaper.jpgEver wondered what happens to your Facebook profile when you die?'

Don't worry, I'm in good health, my morbid fascination is prompted by Facebook's, soon to be released 'TimeLine' feature, currently in Beta.

TimeLine produces a sort of scrapbook of everything that has happened to you since you joined Facebook, at the press of a button.

To see a chronology of your life, automatically generated, is a spooky reminder of just how much data is kept about our online activity and is more than a bit creepy.


The recent financial disaster at UBS brought another UBS story back into the news. Back in January a detailed dress code guide for UBS staff was leaked to much hilarity.

There was also advice on how to apply body lotion and perfume, on not eating garlic and not to have tattoos.

This was held up as an example of an organisation obsessed by detail and interfering in its employees lives.

fondleslab.jpegA "fondleslab", for those not down with the kids, describes any portable touch screen device so beloved by its owner that it is incessantly fondled in public.

I swapped the faithful fag packet and lighter combination (which served a similar social purpose) for an iPhone a few years ago, but now, to keep down with the kids, I need an iPad 2.

Read More

Chris is MD of social media strategy company Friend Digital


JLR Powers ahead.

By David Bailey on May 24, 11 03:58 PM in Automotive


Three years ago the giant conglomerate Tata acquired Jaguar Land Rover from a cash-strapped Ford for $2.3 billion. At the time, some so-called 'experts' argued that Tata had made a huge mistake, and pointed to the fact that in the first ten months of Tata ownership, JLR stacked up losses of £281 million.

But many of us stressed that the underlying business was sound, that JLR was already back into operating profit even under Ford, and that its strategic direction was fundamentally right even if there were challenges ahead.

And since emerging from the worst downturn in automotive history, JLR has proved us right and the 'teenage scribblers' in the City wrong - big time. Indeed, on Thursday JLR will announce bumper annual profits in the £1 billion range. The firm is now very much Tata Motor's star performer. Ford must be wondering what it has done.

facebook-likes.jpegOur old friend, "a recent poll" has indicated that most ad-executives and marketers just want to be liked!

Resisting the temptation to explain why they are not and possibly send this column down an un-publishable route, I must clarify that it is Facebook 'likes', for their clients fan pages, they are after.

Read last weeks column to find out why.

Chris Tomlinson is managing director of social media and online PR agency Friend Digital Ltd.


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David Bailey

David Bailey - Prof David Bailey, Coventry University Business School
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Stuart Pemble

Stuart Pemble - Construction Lawyer, Mills & Reeve
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John Clancy

John Clancy - Birmingham City Councillor and director of mediafuturesalert.com and justliteracy.com
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John Samuels

John Samuels - Professor of Business Finance, Birmingham Business School
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Chris Tomlinson

Chris Tomlinson - Chris Tomlinson is the founder of social media and online PR agency Friend (frienddigital.com)
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Andrew Whitehead

Andrew Whitehead - Senior partner at law firm SGH Martineau, leading the firm's Energy & Climate Change practice.
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Keith Gabriel

Keith Gabriel - A Birmingham-based PR Account Manager
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Beverley Nielsen

Beverley Nielsen - Lecturer, Design Management, at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, BCU
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Mike Loftus

Mike Loftus - Director of News from the Future Ltd. Writing on the trials of setting up your own business
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Richard Halstead

Richard Halstead - Midlands region director for EEF, the manufacturers organisation.
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Karl Edge

Karl Edge - partner at KPMG in Birmingham, specialising in automotive, manufacturing and house building sectors.
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Peter Owen

Peter Owen - Managing director for construction firm Willmott Dixon Midlands.
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Doug Mahoney

Doug Mahoney - International Trade Director at UK Trade & Investment in the West Midlands.
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Dr Steven McCabe

Dr Steven McCabe - director of research degrees for Birmingham City Business School.
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Francis Greene

Francis Greene - Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, at the University of Birmingham.
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Alan Gilmour

Alan Gilmour - Director at Cogent Elliott, experienced in marketing, brand development and customer relationship management.
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