Finding news and information online you can trust about things you're interested in is a high expectation for most people in these connected times in which we live. Unless you're looking for wide-ranging content in the Arabic language, that is. Just 0.6% of Internet content is available in Arabic despite it being the fourth most common language among internet users, according to a report by the Guardian. What some people like Ameen al-Jaleeli in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and … [Read more...] about FIR 188: Translating the Internet into Arabic
Technology
FIR 187: It may be a Car but it Sounds like a Starship
With this September 2019 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report or FIR 187, Shel and I discuss a handful of notable, even memorable, topics and include a segment we recorded two weeks beforehand in Winchester when we were together during Shel's UK trip. Automotive is a star feature of our discussion with a detailed exchange of views and thoughts on news out of the US about regulatory developments regarding electric cars, specifically on the sound they make. Which is a thing that concerns … [Read more...] about FIR 187: It may be a Car but it Sounds like a Starship
Memories on floppy disks
Sorting through some boxes and things in storage as part of the type of chore you often do on a Bank Holiday Monday, I came across some items that took me on a little journey. Floppy disks. The 3-1/2 inch, double-sided, 1.44Mb type. Boxes of them. I had time only to look in one box (thus exhibiting an extraordinary level of self-discipline) and encountered a few great memories (pun not intended) of my computing landscape 25 years ago. While my curiosity didn't extend to viewing any of the … [Read more...] about Memories on floppy disks
FIR 185: Hey Google, play me some content marketing
The July 2019 edition of “The Hobson and Holtz Report” features Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz discussing these stories: Have we hit “peak podcast”?Google’s trying social media againThese are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2019Communicators need to explore new channels for their messagesYou downloaded FaceApp. Here’s what you’ve just done to your privacyConsumers are less attentive to news on mobile devicesDan York reports on interoperability, the new Twitter interface, Twitter’s “Live … [Read more...] about FIR 185: Hey Google, play me some content marketing
FIR 184: An Incomprehensible Disaster
The June 2019 edition of “The Hobson and Holtz Report," aka FIR 184, features Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz talking about these stories: Boeing’s Max 737 crisis is a textbook case of ignoring standards of crisis communicationMary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report has a lot of meat for communicatorsPrivacy policies are an incomprehensible disasterNorth Face and its ad agency thought it was clever gaming Wikipedia. Now they’re sorry.A privacy issue with precise-location tagging led Twitter … [Read more...] about FIR 184: An Incomprehensible Disaster