Tag Archives: Karen Boswell\’s blog

Apr 30 2010
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Search, social media, social networking

What does Facebook publish about you and your friends?

Facebook privacy has been a hot topic for a while now, it’s certainly something I get asked a lot about by those not too familiar with the privacy settings.

Because the settings are too ‘hidden’ or difficult to understand for a vast amount of users, the result is a lot of personal information being publicly available which some users might not want air.

Coupled with the fact that Facebook aren’t particularly forthcoming with how to use the privacy settings it’s no wonder there’s still nervousness around a social network that equals the 4th biggest country in the world.

So if you really want to find out what people can publicly see then here’s a handy tool to help you. This tool requests all data from Facebook’s new api to see what information is available, you simply enter your Facebook username, name, email address or a related keyword and it will display all the information  publicly available.

Be warned you might be suprised at just how much is broadcast…

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Apr 30 2010
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social media, social networking

Wave 4 is on the horizon

Microsoft have announced the arrival of the latest version of Windows Live Messenger “Wave 4”.

It’s the latest way to collaborate all your social networks, video chats, photo sharing and cloud integration (similar to Facebook Connect) plus it offers integration with other websites so you can share your thoughts with your friends wherever in the virtual world they are.

Video chat comes in HD, the navigation is tabbed and easier to use – meaning multiple flashing windows are a thing of the past – plus it’s available for download for the Windows Phone 7 and iPhone. The beta version should be launched this summer. If you can’t wait that long to find out more the watch this video.


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Apr 28 2010
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Fun Stuff, new technology

I want one of these

Veho HD Slim camcorder

No wonder YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world when the creation of video is so simple. The latest gadget is this super slim Veho pocket HD camera retailing at just £99.00.

It’s stylish and sleek, and it fits in the back pocket of my skinny jeans, perfect for a night out or just to carry round ‘in case’. The picture quality is fab (haven’t decided whether that’s a good thing or not yet) but with an 8 x digital zoom, anti wobble (or stabilisation if you prefer) detection and motion predictive features it makes creating your own short film a breeze.

It will take stills too, even store your fave tunes and once you’re done you can connect it straight to your TV or computer for viewing pleasure or ‘selective editing’.

Budding Spielberg’s’ there’s really no excuse now.

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Apr 27 2010
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Media, Search

What is Google AdWords?

Google run a suite of tools and my clients are forever flummoxed as to what they are, recently I’ve been asked a lot about Google AdWords so I felt it only appropriate to outline exactly what Google AdWords is in a couple of simple sentences.

Firstly, by using Google AdWords, you can create display and text ads which then run across Google, it’s quick and easy (even for me). There’s no minimum budget (there is a small set up charge though) and as with Pay Per Click (PPC) you only pay when someone clicks on one of your ads.

Secondly, once up and running the AdWords ads are displayed within search results or you can choose to display your ads on content sites in the ever-expanding Google Content Network (GCN).

That’s it (honestly), plus when you are happy with the campaign you can use Google Analytics to look at how your campaign is performing and identify areas that might need optimising.

See, simple!

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Apr 26 2010
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new technology, social networking

Blip in the transaction

Blippy, the latest product from Twitter, has encountered some issues in the early days of it’s launch.

Featuring stores such as, iTunes, Amazon, Zappos, Blockbuster and eBay, Blippy provides tweets on who spent what and where…

To add to the seemingly pointless nature of Blippy if you do decide to share your purchase details you could be sharing more than you bargained for as credit card details were found through Google search on Friday, after a data leak…

Rather than who bought what, I think I’d be asking myself why and who cares?

That said it could be a useful awareness building tool for brands if it does take off… maybe.

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Apr 25 2010
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A geek moment, Fun Stuff, Interesting stuff

Are we there yet?

It’s Sunday morning and ignoring the unwritten law that dictates this is the Hollyoaks omnibus slot, I’m watching Star Trek instead.

Further to that I’m investigating the Time Warp theory, I’m amazed NASA haven’t sussed this one, it’s simple.

Take a bit of space-time and move it, place a space ship (or transportation of your choice) inside that bubble of time, the space ship thinks it’s not moving and that the space-time is moving instead.

In theory what actually happens is the space-time expands behind the spaceship and contracts in front of it… similar to the big bang theory (where cosmologists refer to the idea that the Universe has expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past and continues to expand to this day. Source: Wikipedia)

It’s fascinating, even more so is the idea of time travel paradoxes, you could have been on a trip you’ve planned, had a wild time and returned home before you’ve even left the house to get in your space ship and go…

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Apr 22 2010
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Interesting stuff, social media, social networking

Pandora marries Facebook

Soooo…the top online radio service and the world’s largest and most successful social network have solidified a plan for domination of the virtual world.

It seems that you can share music with your friends with no catch (really?) and integrate your Pandora and Facebook accounts without a real-time irritating update of what you’re listening to (really… really?). Pandora pay the license, facebook opens it up…

There are countless other similar music services but if you do the basic math, Pandora + Facebook = bloody easy way to get the music/ life balance.

Following on from my earlier post (which didn’t quite work thanks to the lack of ‘Like’ widgets for WordPress) Facebook will include ‘Like’ buttons which users can embed on other websites, by doing this Pandora can then provide you with the most update musical trends based on what you ‘Like’. Easy peasy.

It’s early days but I guess we’ll find out soon enough whether this genius partnering will come to fruition.

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Apr 22 2010
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new technology, social networking

facebook like

buttons seem to be popping up everywhere, are the days of ‘becoming a fan’ numbered? I feel that the new ‘like’ buttons are much easier to use and less imposing.

The ‘Like’ button enables users to make connections to pages you’ve created and share the content with their friends back on Facebook all with just one click.

There are two versions of the button, a basic one is available via a simple iframe you can drop into your page easily. A more complex ‘Like’ button is available via the <fb:like> XFBML tag. This version allows users to add a comment as it is posted back to Facebook.

So what’s the verdict?

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Apr 20 2010
3 Comments
Client questions answered, social networking

the value of digital to brands today

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had clients try to dictate how a product is sold to a consumer, what the consumer needs to feel and how they need to react to something.

And as I patiently sit there and explain that they no longer make the rules you see a mixture of fear, a dawning of realisation that today in our connected world channels come together on behalf of consumers. As a brand or product they now to need to align themselves around the consumers.

We’ve always said that the customer knows best and therefore they are in control, the difference is that now, they have to mean it. The consumer really is in control. Not only that but it all happens in real-time, seasonality is becoming less relevant, clients need to focus on micro targeting to different consumer needs rather than enforcing a message dictated by them en mass.

With the internet bringing together consumers in so many ways, when will they realise the conversation is happening anyway?

The question I put back to them is do you want to be a part of it?

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Apr 20 2010
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Debates and Discussion points, Interesting stuff, new technology

What’s so great about the 4th generation iphone?

Whether through mishap or deliberate misplacement the 4th generation iphone has now been discovered and launch dates are on the horizon with the new and improved spec out there for all to know about.

According to reviews the new improved phone comes with a longer battery life, improved display screen, a ceramic outer shell (reported to improve reception) a torch/flashlight, and most importantly a forward facing camera which suggests video calls and ichat.

So what’s new? Apple aren’t the first to develop this technology, but then they weren’t the first to produce a touch screen mobile so why the hype?

Because even if the technology is the same as what’s out there and the device performs only equal (at best) to Google’s android or the latest HTC, it’ll look a darn sight sexier…

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