Jim O Brien/CEO - techbuzzireland.com

Meet new friends and never be lonely again with Joinful App #Apps #Joinful #Meetups #Travel #Social

Available today, the app Joinful is a platform to allow users to meet new people through doing activities together. As adults, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet new friends, especially if you’re new to a city, travelling alone, if your friends have moved away or have children, or if you don’t get along with your colleagues / work at home. This is especially true today as we become attached to our smartphones, making the world feeling more isolated and alone than ever. With Joinful, they want to make the world feeling more connected by connecting people who want to do the same activities, whether it’s grabbing a coffee together, finding others who want to play the same sport, yoga, practising a language skill and more!

Users on the platform can begin finding activities hosted by other users by either typing a city name to find activities within that city, or by pressing the “target” icon on the top right to instantly find all activities in user’s current city. You can also filter the search results as well. With each activity, you can see the start and end dates and times, max. number of persons who can join and number of people who have already joined, the meeting location, the activity details and more.

Users may also host their own activities. Simply input the activity details and upload a picture and your activity will be displayed. As of today, only users who’s phone numbers have a United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, or Singapore country code can host activities.

How Joinful can help you meet new friends:

We cap each activity to 20 persons max. to replicate the feeling of a friendship group. It can become intimidating to meet people at a large event, and one to ones may create awkward situations and no-shows. By meeting people in a group, not only would it be safer, but you get to meet more people at once.
To ensure quality and trustworthiness of activities, hosts can be rated by users after each activity.
Our platform is activity-focused rather than profile-focused, meaning no more dying conversations online, no more “judging profiles”, and more serendipity moments with people who share common interests and experiences and actually getting people together in real life.
Know when your friends have hosted or joined activities with our friends’ calendar, know when participants have joined your hosted activity with our notifications, and more.

Joinful is now available for free worldwide and is currently available only in English on the Apple App Store. Visit www.joinful.com

Download on iOS

Google kills 2.3 billion ads and ads from 1.5 million apps. #Google #Ads #Apps

Google released its annual Trust and Safety in Ads Report, where the company shares key actions and data around its efforts to keep the digital advertising ecosystem safe.

The full blog post, “Enabling a safe digital advertising ecosystem” by Scott Spencer, Google Director of Sustainable Ads, can be accessed here.

Key takeaways from the report are that Google….

· Introduced 31 new ads policies in 2018

· Took down 2.3 billion bad ads. Overall, that’s more than six million bad ads, every day.

· Took down nearly 207,000 ads for ticket resellers

· Took down over 531,000 ads for bail bonds

· Took down approximately 58.8 million phishing ads (NOTE: many of these ads were blocked before ever serving)

· Used improved machine learning technology to identify and terminate almost one million bad advertiser accounts, nearly double the amount Google terminated in 2017

· Launched 330 detection classifiers to help us better detect “badness” at page level– nearly three times the number of classifiers Google launched in 2017

· Removed nearly 734,000 publishers and app developers from the Google ad network.

· Removed ads completely from nearly 1.5 million apps.

· Removed ads from nearly 28 million pages for violating the publisher policies.

· Verified nearly 143,000 election ads in the U.S.

· Removed ads from almost 74,000 pages for violating Google’s policy on “dangerous or derogatory” content

· Took down approximately 190,000 ads for violating Google’s dangerous or derogatory policy.

Google also continued to tackle the challenge of misinformation and low-quality sites, using several different policies to ensure that Google ads are supporting legitimate, high-quality publishers. In 2018, the company removed ads from 1.2 million pages, more than 22,000 apps, and nearly 15,000 sites across the ad network for violations of policies directed at misrepresentative, hateful, or other low-quality content.

Aer Lingus Mobile App Launches Apple Pay. #AerLingus #Apple #Apps #ApplePay

Aer Lingus today launched Apple Pay as a payment method on the Aer Lingus mobile app. With 50% growth in Aer Lingus mobile app channels over the past year, the airline is now able to offer customers the convenience of frictionless and secure payments in euro, sterling and dollars.

Apple Pay works by connecting directly to your designated bank account, allowing you to make secure in app payments either by using facial recognition or touch ID. This will be a welcome option for folks whom now use such payment options such as myself and paves the way forward for a cashless life..

Dave O’Donovan, Director of Digital and Mobile at Aer Lingus said:

“We are delighted to add the Apple Pay option on our mobile app, as it is another convenient and secure way to pay for your flights. Guest centric product development is important to AerLingus and as we add more and better functionality on our mobile app, more of our guests are choosing to browse and book flights in this way. We will continue to explore ways to add new functionality to give our guests the best possible experience.”

Phishing hooks a quarter of Irish organisations in the last two years. #Sophos #IrishBiz #Phishing

A quarter (25 percent) of Irish organisations have been compromised by phishing attacks in the last two years, while almost half (46 percent) said they had identified instances of employees replying to unsolicited emails or clicking on links contained within them, according to research conducted for Sophos, a leader in network and endpoint security.

Sophos’s survey of 906 IT directors in Western Europe, which was undertaken by Sapio Research, revealed that larger businesses are most likely to have been compromised by phishing attacks, despite also being most likely to conduct phishing and cyber threat awareness training.

When it comes to phishing, organisations in Ireland performed significantly better than their counterparts in the UK. 45 per cent of UK respondents said their organisations had fallen victim to phishing attacks over the last two years. The rate at which Irish organisations were hit by phishing in the period studied was also better than in France (49 percent), Belgium (28 percent) and the Netherlands (44 percent).

Peter Craig, Security Specialist at Sophos, said: “Criminals are adept at using social engineering to exploit human weakness, so while well-trained employees are an excellent deterrent, even the best end user can slip up. Organisations need to ensure employees remain vigilant to the threat posed by phishing attacks; ongoing training should be part of that to spot check employees and ensure they respond correctly and continue to follow the guidelines they’ve been given.”

“Phishing affects everyone and is one of the most common routes of entry for cyber criminals. As organisations grow, their risk of becoming a victim also increases as they become more lucrative targets and provide hackers with more potential points of failure. Given the frequency of these attacks, organisations that don’t have basic infrastructure in place to spot people engaging with potentially harmful emails and whether their systems are compromised are likely to encounter some really significant problems.

“Organisations should block malicious links, attachments and imposters before they reach end users’ inboxes, and use the latest cybersecurity tools to stop ransomware and other advanced threats from running on devices even if a user clicks a malicious link or opens an infected attachment.”

Across Western Europe, 54 percent of IT directors at companies employing between 500 and 1,000 people told Sophos’ researchers their organisations had fallen victim to phishing attacks in the last two years
This compared to 39 percent of 250 to 499 person companies and just 14 percent of firms with fewer than 250 people
50 percent of firms with fewer than 250 people offered training to help employees spot attacks, compared to 78 percent of those with between 500 and 1,000 people
64 percent of Irish companies conduct regular cyber threat awareness training already, while 25 percent said they plan to offer it in the future

So, IS Social Media Bad For Us Really? #Social #SocialMedia

Guest Post – For some, the mere mention of the phrase “social media” can turn them away from whoever uttered it. Nothing can be worse than this attention-guzzling, addition-forming, artificial-feeling method of staying connected with friends and family. But maybe social media is simply getting a bad rap. According to a new study by Carphone Warehouse, being on social media can have surprising benefits. For one, more than half of Britain would say it allows them to maintain invaluable relationships with their loved ones.

It got us thinking – perhaps there’s more to social media than doomsday headlines might suggest. So, we looked at some of the ways social media has the potential to actually enhance our lives. So, we decided to do some investigating. Here’s a short exploration of why social media is probably not bad for us after all.

Social media can bring families closer together

The study shows that two in five Brits think the internet allows their families to be closer, bringing them together during family events through video calls, for example. What’s more, 35% of Britain would go so far as to say their family relationships would suffer if it wasn’t for the internet. A 2019 Stanford University study into The Welfare Effects of Social Media came to a similar conclusion. They found that Facebook, in particular, can be a vital social lifeline for those who are otherwise isolated. Any discussion of social media, they say, “should not obscure the fact that it fulfils deep and widespread needs.” After all, whether our family is halfway around the world or right next door, social media gives us that extra method of connection to help us strengthen family bonds.

The internet makes our lives easier

We can’t mention social media without alluding to the internet as a whole. The new research found that an impressive 7 in 10 Londoners would say the internet has made their family lives easier. Look into this further and 7 in 10 people aged 25-34 would specifically credit apps with making their and their family’s lives easier. With 2.1 million Android apps and 2 million Apple apps to choose from, it’s no wonder we’re making the most of the massive library at our disposal.

That said, we’d be amiss without pointing out that it’s important to keep a close eye on what we do online to ensure our lives are made easier because of it. For example, are you using the internet for its ability to give you real-time information and news or its ability to distract you from what you’re really supposed to be doing? Is the internet a way for you to get easy and instant communication with loved ones or do you use it as a form of procrastination instead? Keep an eye on how you use the internet to make sure it’s playing a positive role in your life.

Social media spreads social awareness

It’s fair to say there are no borders when it comes to social media platforms. As long as you have an internet connection, social media allows you to interact with people all around the world. What we have, essentially, is a worldwide window to peoples’ lives (or, at least, the online life they choose to display).

This might be one of the reasons why social media activism has been credited with amplifying movements such as the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter campaigns for equality. Many of us can gain a better understanding of the issues around the world – and sometimes intimate access to the people suffering because of it – through social media. As Ethan Zuckerman explains, “social media is critically important in giving voice to communities who’ve been systemically excluded from media.” Whether we’re talking about marginalised communities or simply the 4.5 million social-media-using 55+ year olds, these platforms are allowing more people to be heard

With 19 million Brits vehemently stating that the internet, apps and technology have had no negative impact on their family lives, the hysteria about social media’s evils might be unfounded. After all, the internet – and social media platforms in particular – can be of great benefit to society (if used wisely), helping us stay connected to loved ones and learn about people around the world.

Review – The future of gaming is here with #ZeroLatency. #VR #ZeroLatency #Gaming

I have been a huge of VR fan since inception and having worked on some really cool projects including science,health,fitness and more over the years alongside trying out the latest hardwear too it had me sold.. However it has died to some extent over the last year or so and I lost interest mainly now because the focus on AR MR and AI which is fine and great but VR has much more to offer than one might seem and after testing out the latest idea called Zero Latency this changes everything in more ways than one and could be the next big thing…

Zero Latency officially opened on Wednesday and due to work commitments I could not make it in before the opening day and boy if there is a time to say “better late than never” this is it. I arrived in anyhow on the launch day and it was an experience I will not forget in a hurry and it is not often I get to say that something new in tech is mind blowing.

Zero Latency is based in Sandyford Dublin which for some might be a distance for some to travel but it will be worth it,trust me and it is a free roam VR environment with proprietary games, this is a custom built setting with the best equipment there is at hand and it also has miles of CAT 6 cable from talking to the owner RONAN CUNNINGHAM afterwards who shared some insights and thoughts about going forward and indeed the idea itself and all in which I agree on and looking ahead this is an exciting idea on many fronts.

On arriving you will be greeted by the team and you will sign in and from even here its technical with cool looking tablets and a cool interface yet simple then you get a session with on safety your Leader which is all pretty simple and straight forward yet worth noting as this is really immersive and there is good reason for the age cap at under 13s You will see some health clauses but nothing to serious and you are good to go so just be wise and adhere to the briefing for your own good.

We tried two games on the night and even the basic game left me leaving with a smile on how good it was executed. So the equipment is whats next.. You get the best there is A Backpack,VR headset, Controller and Headphones which all work together quite well with great sound,feedback and makes it feel like you are there..

Once suited and booted you are good to go.. You walk into the arena and when the headsets are turned on begin to be amazed……

First up was Engineerium which reminded me of Kula World for some reason but this is a walking adventure and puzzle experience set on a fantastical ancient alien world, suspended above an ocean, where gravity does not function as expected.

Walk among flying whales and parrot rays and connect the platforms to progress through the puzzle. Colourful characters and bright, friendly music accompany you on the journey. Teamwork is key in this unique virtual reality game that lets you walk up and down ramps and twisty, curvy walls, defying gravity. Engineerium is suitable for all ages and is the first game to use VR to experience physics-based puzzles. For me this game is the ideal entry level experience as it will give you a feel for VR if you have not tried it and you would be surprised how many have not and if you are not sold after this game,you need to get out some more… Given how this game looks simplistic its how immersive it is and how you react to the environment around you its just great..

Second game we tried was Zombie Survival – Your team is trapped, bunkered in a fort, amidst the chaos brought on by a zombie outbreak. A rescue team is on its way but you must defend the fort and hold on until they arrive. You and your team must put down wave after wave of zombies and rebuild barriers to protect yourselves while you wait. Again this is like any FPS game but this is more a team event rather than a single player. You get to experience close up encounters with Zombies go up and down elevators and use multiple weapons with great accuracy I might add and overall a really enjoyable game..In this game communication with your team is important

When you are done you get a debrief/rundown of your scores on screen in another room on the way out and not only that you get these emailed to you so you can keep tabs and improve the next time around again this is in a stylish setting and overall pretty cool..

Why is this better than gaming at home??

OK I was once a HUGE gaming fan and now have little time to do it but do get some hours in on the weekends and I still actually use the Nintendo Wii for fitness and a non lazy couch approach,not that there is anything wrong with it that’s just my opinion..This is a great idea for getting out and a way of getting exercise too and in today’s world it gives the social element too it and you will not realise how much running and walking around you will do playing these games where as you can to an extent in your house, Your gaming space at home is no match for this full stop.. You could argue you can communicate today whilst gaming online but that is a moot point in my book because we are too busy with our heads shoved into a TV screen or mobile phone this idea gets you out and face to face and also there is an exercise element thrown in.. Trust me its worth it..

The Price..

OK so you will hear the cheapskates whinge and moan because its €39 to play.. Get a grip folks.. This is the only experience of its kind here in Ireland simple as that. This is a new experience and perhaps not so much for current gamers but once you try it you will want more, For those who have not tried VR this will open up your mind as to what the future has on offer and what you have missed since VR came to fruition, Zero Latency is on the cusp of something bigger and better and mark my words when you try this you will thank me for it…So get out of your screens and get social,enjoy and exercise whilst at it..

ZERO LATENCY – https://zerolatencyvr.ie/

Pick up the retro Nokia 3310 and 8110 on the cheap with @tescomobileire. #Nokia #Tesco

HMD Global and Nokia released two retro devices so far but none this year at MWC which some had been expecting to see another “tug at the heart strings” device. The retro phones in general do sell well and plenty of people I know including myself sport one or the other. If you have not picked up the Nokia 3310 most famous for snake or the 8110 dubbed the banana phone Tesco Mobile are now selling them off a decent prices should you need a spare or perhaps even pick one up as a gift..

You could also buy one of these two devices to just get away from it all too and it is not a bad thing as things seem to be getting worse instead of better with our heads buried in our screens. Check out my review on the 8110, this is my favourite of the two..

Head to Tesco mobile for more..

CarePlus Pharmacy upgrades IT infrastructure with Novi’s €200k security and mobility deal. #CarePlus #Novi #IT

Novi, the secure IT and cloud service provider, today announces that it has designed and implemented a new IT infrastructure for CarePlus Pharmacy, Ireland’s fastest growing independent retail pharmacy group, in a deal worth €200,000. The new solution will enhance data security and mobile working capabilities for CarePlus Pharmacy customers and all employees.

In 2015, the first CarePlus Pharmacy store opened in Cork and the franchise has since grown to over 60 locations across the country. The CarePlus support team provides IT services to each of these pharmacies and given the speed and scale of the franchise’s growth, the group’s needs quickly outstripped the capability of its IT systems.

Pictured at the announcement that secure IT and cloud service provider Novi has completed a 200,000 IT infrastructure upgrade for CarePlus Pharmacy are (L-R): George O’Dowd, Managing Director, Novi; and Finn McCann, Technology and Systems Director, CarePlus Pharmacy.

Following a competitive tender, Novi was chosen to deliver a comprehensive technology solution for CarePlus based on its end-to-end proactive IT offering and security focus. Security was a major concern for the group, to ensure CarePlus’ sensitive commercial data was secure and safely backed up.

Novi initially oversaw a complete IT migration to a single set of hardware and software to ensure a uniform line of cyber defence with consistent updates across devices. Novi PatchGuard was introduced to automate IT updates to ensure CarePlus systems are always up to date. Novi then implemented further layers of protection to maximise security, including email protection and a next-generation managed firewall.

CarePlus Pharmacy generates and stores commercial data and intellectual property in-house. Therefore, secure data protection and recovery was another important consideration with Novi Airgap implemented to provide robust offsite backup of servers, safeguarding CarePlus’ data against the event of a disaster or malware attack.

CarePlus also has a growing number of field staff in both sales and support roles. Novi designed and implemented a new remote access solution for CarePlus to allow these users securely and seamlessly access its servers from any location – greatly enhancing remote working capabilities and security.

Finn McCann, Technology and Systems Director, CarePlus Pharmacy said: “CarePlus Pharmacy is the fastest growing pharmacy group in Ireland – with an increasing number of stores and staff, a broader range of services, and an ever-growing customer base.

“Our IT team were spending too much time addressing IT infrastructure issues. Without Novi, we would have been forced to significantly grow our in-house IT team at a time when competition for talent is high. Novi’s expertise solved this problem and enhanced our productivity by eliminating IT downtime and allowing us to focus on our core business.

“As well as enabling growth, Novi has provided us with peace of mind that our data is protected. Despite operating in an environment where the prevalence of SME targeted cyber-attacks are on the rise, Novi has put us at much greater ease knowing we have multiple layers of security features and a secure backup of our systems in place.”

George O’Dowd, Managing Director, Novi, said: “CarePlus customers and franchisees have trust in the brand based on its excellent care and advice. It was important we met this trust by going the extra mile for CarePlus by implementing a comprehensive security solution so stakeholders can be confident their data and system are protected.

“Now, CarePlus has a top-class managed technology infrastructure so even more pharmacies can join the group and adopt the brand confident that they will receive best-in-breed IT systems and support. With secure and reliable end-to-end systems in place, CarePlus can focus on further business growth with minimum need to worry about IT risk or downtime.”

Irish Animation Studio Involved in Latest YouTube Originals Release. #Sherwood #YouTube

Irish studio Giant Animation involved in the latest YouTube Original release.

YouTube has announced the release of SHERWOOD, an animated series based on the mythology of Robin Hood but set in the dystopian future of 2270. The series follows 14 year-old Robin and her friends’ battles with the wealthy Upper City in their efforts to overcome inequality and fight for justice. SHERWOOD is now available on YouTube Premium.

The ten episode series is produced by Giant Animation, based in Glasnevin, Dublin, in collaboration with Baby Octopus (USA) and Toybox (New Zealand).

“In this modern telling of Robin Hood, Robin is a girl and she uses technology and code to battle the sheriff of Sherwood. Together with Google’s Computer Science in Media team, we convened an advisory council comprised of thought leaders from organizations across Google. Together we imagined a world of the future and what it meant for design, travel, technology and society,” said Nadine Zylstra, Head of Learning, YouTube Originals. “Sherwood is new series set to inspire young women and girls on their role in technology of the future.”

The all-star voice cast features Anya Chalotra (The Witcher, The ABC Murders, Much Ado About Nothing), Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf, Truth Or Dare), Aneurin Barnard (The Goldfinch, Radioactive, Dunkirk), Jamie Chung (The Gifted, Big Hero, Gotham), Neneh Conteh, Rachel House (Whalerider, Thor, Moana), Ade M’Cormack (Lost, Heroes, NCIS), and Darrill Rosen (The Misogynists, Richard’s Wedding, First Person Singular) with guest star Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale, Elizabeth, Shakespeare In Love).

YouTube Premium is a subscription service that offers access to YouTube Original series and movies, a streaming music platform, and an uninterrupted, ad-free experience across all of YouTube. YouTube Premium is currently available in Ireland, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru. Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.S, the U.K. and Ukraine.

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