Chirag Desai
Our highlights from the season thus far (and fun season giveaways for our UAE listeners!) on the latest Tales of the Trade:
2018
From a city often accused of not having enough culture, the story of a locally grown and yet one of the very few dedicated improv theatres in the world, on the latest episode of Tales of the Trade.
š
Such a lovely video by John Lewis & Partners this season, featuring Elton John. Simple, effective (& warm) creative.
On the latest episode of Tales of the Trade, how shutting down their restaurant taught the Al Awadhi brothers important lessons that shaped their revival.
š
This week, a story from a slightly past life when I was a dedicated food blogger, and came across My Custard Pie, not just a blog but a brand that is growing strong day by day.
š
Crap. starts inspecting bank accounts
Letās go iPad Pro!
Iāve been a regular and observed Bull & Rooās cafes and restaurants grow over the past 3 years to new heights. Was great to get a behind-the-scenes on how it all came together for our latest episode :)
š
Happy Dussehra to everyone celebrating! Keep that light shining :)
This turned out to be one of the best stories Iāve had the opportunity to cover. This weekās Tales of the Trade features the story of Surf House Dubai, a tale of resilience:
š
Gorgeous scale lego model of Apple Park by Spencer Rezkalla.
(via @gruber)
Excited to finally unveil Tales of the Trade! Episode 1 covers the story of a multi-million dirham agency almost by happenstance to getting acquired by the largest socially-led agency in the world:
š
Excited to be a part of Dubaiās first ever Podcasts Forum on September 29 to mark International Podcast Day! Look forward to catching up with fellow podcasters and podcast fans in the area :)
Was great catching up in person for the first time with the rest of the @amaeya podcasting family š
Really should have done this a long time ago!
Trust me to put together an event while a fairly massive cricket match is ongoing all of 10 mins away, another 100 pax group is conducting one at the same venue, and while I publish two episodes.
#suckerForPunishment #greatTiming
š
#GaneshChaturthi
No iPad today :/ #iPhoneXS #AppleEvent
āItās always darkest before the dawn.ā #musings
Excited to have a teaser for the upcoming season of the Tales of the Trade podcast. Would love to hear what you think!
šļø
Google Data Collection
Digital Content Next::
Both Android and Chrome send data to Google even in the absence of any user interaction. Our experiments show that a dormant, stationary Android phone (with Chrome active in the background) communicated location information to Google 340 times during a 24-hour period, or at an average of 14 data communications per hour. In fact, location information constituted 35% of all the data samples sent to Google. In contrast, a similar experiment showed that on an iOS Apple device with Safari (where neither Android nor Chrome were used), Google could not collect any appreciable data (location or otherwise) in the absence of a user interaction with the device.
Continuing the fun behind-the-scenes episodes for my showās upcoming season: a chat with our music composer.
šļø
ātwas a great Saturday! šļø
Excited to begin the countdown to a project I canāt wait to publish, with some special episodes on the people behind the scenes of the show, starting with our producer Gaya
šļø
A stalwart in every way. May his life be celebrated.
Om Shanti š
Picture: Swarajya
Doesnāt have to look like summer even if it is 45 deg C.
Just received the first round of behind the scenes shots of our upcoming podcast season. Been rather enlightening to have a producer on board, not to mention getting a birdās eye view you canāt really have as a host. š
āIāll text you my email address,ā he said, before proceeding to email me his email address.
#shortStory #overBeforeItStarted
The last week Iāve had multiple conversations off social media, about social media, its impacts & what weāve lost along the way. A shoutout to those who have patiently heard me out & shared insightful feedback. Canāt thank you enough. #socialMedia #indieWeb
How goes your weekend folks?
Trying out a take on the Aviation cocktail, with gooseberry/amla jam for that little extra Vit C.
Good coffee fuels. Great coffee creates. What are you guys creating currently? #coffee #chemex
Indian hands turning wheels of global auto companies
Ketan Thakkar, reporting for the Economic Times:
The Indian R&D setup for Mercedes-Benz has metamorphosed from a tiny division with 20 staffers in Bengaluru, the IT capital of India, a couple of decades ago into a powerhouse of 5,000 engineers that is contributing significantly to new-age technology. The company is already preparing to double its office space as the scope of work expands significantly.
Additionally:
Ford India said in 2016 it would invest $195 million to set up a global technology and business centre in Chennai to leverage India as an innovation hub.
India adopts strong net neutrality norms
The BBC:
The recommendations explicitly forbid operators from throttling data speeds for any online service, and mandates all content be treated the same.
Additionally:
Telecom operator Airtel was forced to withdraw a plan to charge extra for internet calls, and shut down a platform called Airtel Zero, which allowed customers to access a few mobile applications for free. [ā¦] Others, including Facebook and Google, were also forced to abandon their zero-rating platforms and deals.
Manton Reece:
Iāve now tried to reduce this feature to its simplest form that solves the problem of finding new users [ā¦] Iāve reverted the change from earlier this week and replaced it with a list of who someone is following that you arenāt following already.
Aces.
Samsung opens worldās largest mobile phone factory in India
VISHWAM SANKARAN, writing for The Next Web:
The new plant ā located in the industrial city of Noida ā will help Samsung gradually double its current annual production capacity in India from 67 million phones to 120 million in the next three years. The factory is also expected to provide at least 1,000 more local jobs.
This comes not long after news earlier this year that Apple is ramping up production of iPhones, Xiaomi plans to add 3 factories & Oppo will be setting up a $320m manufacturing facility.
Iām delighted to share that the awesome Gaya joins the @Amaeya network as producer for its flagship podcast. Sheās put together a Vlog on how itās coming together so far.
More details here.
šļø
No brainer Micro Monday shoutout to @rosemaryorchard! Among the most helpful people Iāve seen online aaaand now host of Automaters with the cool David Sparks covering automation on Apple platforms. Looking forward to episode 1.
Production of made-in-India 6s iPhones begins
Writankar Mukherjee, reporting for The Economic Times:
Apple has started commercial production of the iPhone 6s in India since last week at the Bengaluru facility of its Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron that has set up a new line for the handsets, two senior industry executives said.
[ ā¦ ]
The Cupertino-based maker of iPhones and Mac computers already makes iPhone SE since last May at the Wistron facility, which will now produce two iPhone models locally.
š¬
So far, unable to tell whether the current rumblings in (every aspect of my) life are a precursor to big breakthroughs or calm before an extremely unneeded storm.
Had tons of fun reminiscing about tech we grew up with on our latest t3chtree episode:
š§
Iām really glad I chanced upon this WWDC design session live. A must watch on the qualities of great design, which was really well documented & presented by Lauren Strehlow:
The Qualities of Great Design
Ryan Christoffel:
One more thing in iOS 12: Apple Podcasts now supports MP3 chapters, which can be skipped using Siri. š
Yay. Also nice it will already work with previous episodes :)
Still funny on a second watch: Appleās āThe Developer Migrationā video.
#WWDC18
Workflow 2.0 :) #WWDC Also looks like we have a new notification design?
Hair force one is the reason we watch the WWDC keynote :)
Great opening video at WWDC 2018. A genuine laugh after over a week.
Took about 30 minutes to submit my first VAT return & set up a bank transfer to the UAE Federal Tax Authority. Payment was acknowledged later the same day.
#smooth
A fantastic listing of resources for Micro.blog users by @eli.
(Thanks @manton for sharing)
Behind Deadpoolās blu-ray takeover at Walmart
Julia Howe, as interviewed by David Griner:
We asked ourselves, if Deadpool wanted to self-promote himself at retail, how would he do it? The character is a treasure trove of pop culture references, so it just seemed like the logical solution.
Was fun seeing the initial pictures flood social media over the last week. While it was obviously an agency-driven campaign, it was still refreshing to see something new, and simultaneously fearing quite a few copycats considering the success.
All I can see is poisonā¦ #musings
t3chtree #8: āWhy are you doing my job?ā š§
We chat about Google I/O & our reactions to the Duplex call. Plus a follow up to the #askt3chtree question on smartphone batteries.
Full show notes & links to subscribe are here.
Steve Straza:
The pricing for Twitterās new account activity API is ridiculous and doesnāt address how Twitter clients have used the streaming APIs until now. Streaming is effectively dead as of August.
Predictable, but still sad.
The story behind Wildpeeta š§
I attempted a storytelling format on my latest episode on the Wildpeeta brothers & their journey from startup to shut down, and how the lessons they learnt have led to them coming back in partnership with Freedom Pizza.
As always, full show notes & links are here.
Taking monitoring to a whole new level.
Micro Monday shoutout to @hartlco, not just a community member but also actively growing the ecosystem with Icro. Excited that the app is now approved!
Bans on Skype & FaceTime could be lifted in the UAE
Natasha Turak, reporting for CNBC
UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) Director General Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri confirmed the talks this week, according to local news reports, citing Microsoft and Appleās growing investment plans in the UAE and the desire to forge closer relationships with tech companies as primary reasons.
Letās hope.
t3chtree #7: Careem breach, password management
We chat about ride-sharing platform Careemās security breach notification & some password management tips. Plus, my first @microdotblog outro :)
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Detailed show notes are available here.
Was told today I look like Iām 28. Either Iām doing something right or this person is doing something wrong, but regardless, a happy Saturday :)
Picked up my @instagram archive, will look into importing it to the current blog hopefully. Not planning to quit the platform just yet but glad I have a copy. If you didnāt know, you can pick it up here.
Itās been ages since anyone tried to redesign or uplift the usual Twitter experience (little surprise there). Flitter reminds me of @Twittelator Neue in a way, something very clean about it. vimeo.com/266730374
Electricity reached all Indian villages on Saturday
Utpal Bhaskar, reporting for LiveMint:
All Indian villages now have access to electricity. The last village to be brought on the national power grid was Leisang village in the Senapati district of Manipur at 5.30pm on Saturday.
Finally.
āMaybe together we can get somewhereā
When life forces you to replace your car tyres, and youāre just sitting there waiting, courtesy @gayamusic. #music #cover
The story behind @FryingPanAdventures š§
The start of a new season of the āCoffee & Iced Teaā podcast, where I speak to the sisters behind Frying Pan Adventures, Dubaiās first tour company & how they got started.
Detailed show notes are available here.
A new season of Coffee & Iced Tea begins April 22!
Your browser does not support the audio element. Links to subscribe and other fun stuff are here.
Excited to see our podcast @t3chtree as a friend of @TieDubai & media partner for #TiEConDubai 2018. #entrepreneurship #dubai #podcast
[Podcast] t3chtree 6: Grassroots innovation, mentorship & @TiEDubai Con 2018
Weāre talking grassroots innovation in our region, mentorship & the TiECon 2018. We also have some invite codes to give away if youāre looking to attend the conference.
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Detailed show notes are available here.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Someday, maybe. Not today. #2018
#always #weekend #birthday #whiskey
Weāre talking #privacy & @facebook on the latest episode of @t3chtree, do check it out! #podcast š§
āUp to 87 millionā #facebook
David Ingram, writing for Reuters:
Facebook Inc said on Wednesday the personal information of up to 87 million users, mostly in the United States, may have been improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, up from a previous news media estimate of more than 50 million.
Yay.
#Privacy iOS users, Settings ā Privacy is your friend. Review & turn things off for apps that donāt need content they have access to. Turn on Advertising ā Limit Ad Tracking, which stops providers from targeting ads to you (you can reset this ad ID if the setting was off).
Micro Monday shoutout to @Macgenie, whoās also a great resource to get started on micro.blog. Plus really enjoying the @monday microcast, do check it out with you havenāt.
Ep # 4: On the latest episode of @t3chtree talking Blackberry suing Facebook & smartphones: OS', batteries & cameras, with my recommendation for @halidecamera on iOS.
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Foxconn buys Belkin for $866m
Facebook: āEveryoneās doing itā
Sean Gallagher, writing for Ars Technica:
In response to an email inquiry by Ars about this data gathering, a Facebook spokesperson replied, āThe most important part of apps and services that help you make connections is to make it easy to find the people you want to connect with. So, the first time you sign in on your phone to a messaging or social app, itās a widely used practice to begin by uploading your phone contacts.
Yowza: India alerts 40 countries about pedophiles who were members of a whatsapp group that was busted in February #CBI #India #Whatsapp
Nanima
You were a phenomal woman who moved mountains for her children & grandchildren. The way youād share stories of your kids growing up ā¦ almost like a child skipping through a garden in excitement. I learnt this week that maybe Iāve inherited my eyes from youā¦ Why donāt I hear your voice say āWho is it, is that you Chiragā as I walk past the door? Always checking to make sure Iād eaten.
Eye.
Thanks to some amazing planning a week in advance, I spent the morning with my hot date. Some tongue may have been involved. #valentinesday #wednesday #mydubai #justanotherday #cleanteeth #teeth #dentist #oral
If youāre a #podcast app developer, do check out the https://podto.org specification by @iamsteadman & @ThePodPlaylist, see a potential to reach Markdown-type acceptance. Would be great to see @overcastfm & others support it.
Who says you canāt experiment with coffee? #coldbrew #gingerale #coffee #Tuesday #ipad #cold #icedcoffee #dubai #mydubai #makingithappen #humpday #whynot #workworkwork
Excited to finally have my podcast network site up. If all works well, will have some interesting sponsors and 2 new shows soon!
Love and marriage, they go together like dosa and cabbageā¦
Home Screen 2018
I had not noticed that the dock icons no longer have labels until I compared to last yearās homescreen.Continuing M.G. Sieglerās tradition, my homescreen kicking off 2018. Not to worry, it was screenshotād on January 1.
Outside of the obvious change to screen size, compared to 2017:
Iāve switched back to the default mail client after some trouble with Outlook on iOS. Overcast makes the home screen with podcastsāboth listening and creatingātaking on a prominence last year.
Talk 112: Right to Education (RTE)
Hariprasad N joins us to talk about Indiaās Right to Education (RTE): its flaws, the decline in education quality and the continuting discrimination it propagates.
Full show notes & links are available on the episode page.
From flower to fruit. #mydubai #homegrown #pomegranate #anaar #garden #gardening #dubai #flowers #fruit #green
Happy New Year everybadday! #mydubai #newyearseve #newyear #2017 #2018 #nye