Saintel Daily - If it Happened

Gmail Will No Longer Scan Your Emails to Target Advertisements

June 24, 2017 Jen Elsie MacGill Comments 1 comment

Google is going to stop scanning your email in order to direct advertisements at you. Which sounds like a good thing, but they’re only doing it in email. Which is kind of concerning, don’t you think? For example, are my emails from my boyfriend being scanned? And then what is Google doing with that information? What if the information is salacious? I’m not saying that my emails are, but it does raise a big question about privacy. That being said, Google is still going to track your search history and target you that way. But they have decided to stop doing it if you have a Gmail account.

The major concern I have with this is that they shouldn’t have been doing it at all. I don’t really care about the fact that they track my search history and use it to target ads at me. That’s fine. I don’t have an expectation of privacy when I’m using the search engine. I shouldn’t say that. My expectation of privacy is low. On the other hand, I do feel that there is an expectation of privacy within email. Maybe I’m being naive, but what else can we expect? I’m also curious to know what kind of information they are grabbing onto and then using? Outside of my Amazon purchases, I haven’t seen much in terms of advertisements.

I’m still not sure that I’ve ever seen this in practice. I might also be oblivious. … Read the rest

Here Are Some Tools to Make it Easier for You to Work From Home

June 21, 2017 Jen Elsie MacGill Comments 0 Comment

For many, working from home is a benefit and perk. But there are still many, many employers that don’t like the idea of it. As someone who has the privilege of being able to work from home, I have heard it all. I am in a unique situation where the majority of my co-workers aren’t able to work from home. So I often get the stink eye when I inform my office that I’m working from home. Why? Because they assume that I’m sitting in my pyjamas and playing video games all day. But I’m not.

In my experience, working from home can actually be a good way to power through a project. I struggle with distractions, it seems. So having a nice quiet environment helps a great deal from this perspective. That being said, a big challenge for me is keeping track of my work and my to do list. Because I’m so mobile, I’m always trying to come up with innovative ways to keep track of my tasks. How many of you are able to work from home? What challenges do you run into? And what tools and resources do you find helpful when trying to get through your task list? That is a lot of questions, I know. Throughout the rest of this post, I am going to talk about some resources that are available to help you work from home more more efficiently.

Workfrom

If you are unlike me, and need to be around people while you work, you might want to try the website Workfrom. … Read the rest

Virgin Mobile Teams Up With Apple To Offer iPhone Service for $1

June 21, 2017 Jen Elsie MacGill Comments 1 comment

Virgin Mobile USA has decided to go iPhone only. Well, kind of. Virgin is teaming up with Apple to offer you what they are calling the “Inner Circle” plan. Virgin is stating that there is no other phone on the market. Literally. “There’s iPhone. And then there’s everything else. At Virgin Mobile, we’re teaming with Apple to offer you nothing but the world’s most popular phone. Because life in the Inner Circle is about living big, expanding your horizons and pursuing your passions. And it starts with an iPhone you’ll adore.” The plan itself will only cost you $1, and with it you get unlimited talk, text and data.

Which is amazing, right? Except if you’re not an iPhone customer, you’re out of luck. At least in terms of this plan. That doesn’t mean you can’t get one, so it seems that this is Apple’s way (indirectly) of getting you to switch? I’ve written a lot about brand loyalty in the past. Especially how it relates to which kind of device/platform that you choose. As an aside, I spent the day in meetings today, and as I looked around the room, I noticed that the majority of people at the meeting were iPhone users. Which is interesting, isn’t it? Especially when the data suggests that there are more Android users than people using iOS. But it does speak to the larger battle between iOS and Android.

But this is merely an incentive from Virgin. … Read the rest

Only 7% of New Video Games in 2017 Have Female Leads.

June 20, 2017 GamerGirl Comments 1 comment

It should amaze no one that in 2017, we still have to talk about gender inequality. However I still struggle to understand why we can’t celebrate differences. Why can’t we celebrate diversity and look at our world from a place of inclusion? The number of men and women in the world is pretty well split. Yes, there are still more men than women. But the numbers are very close. Which is why I find it so compelling that we don’t see more women in leading roles. Or to take this one step further, why we celebrate the fact that a female has a leading role in, let’s say a movie.

For example, Wonder Woman. I think the premise of the movie is great. I think the fact that we have female super heroes is amazing, but why do we make such a big deal about it? The short answer – because men have dominated these roles for far too long. Insinuating that women can’t be strong. Or can’t be in a leading role. I am getting a bit off topic and ahead of myself, but I think you can see where I’m going with this, right? When it comes to men in a leading role we tend to downplay the idea of gender. This happens in the workforce. It happens in politics. It happens in the movies as well. But if there is a woman in a leading role, we celebrate the fact that she is a woman and “good for her”. … Read the rest

Star Trek: Discovery Finally Has a Release Date: September 24, 2017

June 20, 2017 Jen Elsie MacGill Comments 0 Comment

It’s finally happening. Star Trek Discovery has an actual release date. After a worrisome delay, CBS has finally set a release date: September 24, 2017. When I first saw this, I thought that it’s an awfully long way away. But then I remembered that it’s June. And we’re nearing the end of June, so this is not that far off. No one really knew the reason for the delay, until now. In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Aaron Harberts, and Gretchen J Berg (showrunners) let fans know why the show has been delayed. And I think you might appreciate the show’s commitment to detail. Stating that the reason the show was delayed nine months was that they needed more time to build a world like Star Trek. Meaning, they needed time to build amazing costumes and sets.

There’s is so much artistry and custom craftsmanship that go into every prop, every costume, every set. These things have to be designed and manufactured. We flew a costume designer to Switzerland to pick up the fabric for the Starfleet uniforms. Several items on our uniforms are 3D printed. Some of our sets can take over six weeks to make. CBS has given us the time and the money to make something the fans will find worthwhile.~ Harberts

You can’t cut corners or have 95 percent of what’s on screen be completely original and inspired and then have five percent something you bought at a store.… Read the rest

Jay-Z’s New Album 4:44 to Be Released Exclusively Through Tidal

June 19, 2017 Jen Elsie MacGill Comments 1 comment

Jay-Z is set to release a new album later this month. This will be his first album since Magna Carta Holy Grail in 2013. Which seems like a long time for an artist to go without an album. But this is Jay-Z and he has a ton of other projects on the go. Including: launching a venture capital fund to invest in start-ups, producing films and documentary series, and sold part of Tidal to Sprint. In addition, Jay-Z released a song last year titled “Spiritual” which was in response to police brutality. He’s also appeared on several tracks in the last few months. Not to mention the recent addition to his family. I don’t want to downplay all that he’s done over the last couple of years, but I do want to focus on his new album.

First of all, the album is set to be released on June 30. What’s interesting about this is that the album will be exclusively released through Tidal. Why? Well, with Jay-Z as the owner of the company, it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? But this isn’t a new concept for Jay-Z. In 2013, his album was released to one million Galaxy owners as part of a deal with Samsung. What is even more interesting is that this release will be a first for his new partner Sprint. Sprint acquired 33% of Tidal earlier this year.

All of this is really interesting, yes, but let’s talk about the album itself. … Read the rest