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New National Anthem for Northern Ireland

I would like to propose a new National Anthem for Northern Ireland. After the incredible success of Ireland's Call written by Phil Coulter. Ireland's Call has not only been used extensively by Ireland's Rugby men but also by Hockey, Cricket, Rugby League and A1 GP teams.

My choice of a general song for a National Anthem of Northern Ireland will raise a few eyebrows:

'So come on Northern Ireland -Come on!'

'there is a whole lotta work to be done!'

'you can make it in the end -with a little bit of help from your friends'

'So come on Northern Ireland -Come On!'

Repeat to fade

A big shout out must go to the 'IDB' for composing such a masterpiece and of course to the girl with the incredible natural breasts featured in the advertisement. If she is still about -perhaps we could get a wee cup of Punjana sometime soon ;-)

Philip Wilson Leader of Men

if you are in need of some direction why not 'follow me' twitter.com/internetsense

if on the other hand you have an aversion to beautiful natural breasts perhaps it would be better if you 'unfollowed me'

Is a hedgehog cool?

As I was heading to work this morning my daughter (Eva -Aged 4) told me how excited she was because today she was off to see the ‘Wild Animals’ -Not Lions, Tigers, Panthers and Sharks but Frogs, Foxes, Badgers and a ‘Hedgehog Daddy!’ You see if you are four years of age a hedgehog may well be the coolest thing on the planet!

On the way to work I couldn't help but relate this mornings chat from my daughter with the disgusting events fresh off the presses at ICC headquarters (Governing Body for World Cricket). You see for the last month the mighty Irish have been going nose to nose with the ‘MIghty India’ (the eventual winners) the ‘Kings of the Jungle’ , with the ‘Lions’ of England, is a Springbok afraid of a little hedgehog? One look into the eyes of Graeme Smith (SA Captain) said ‘will this match never end?’ Can a hedgehog defeat a Lion in a fair fight? Well just ask Andrew Strauss (Eng Captain) -as we all now know the answer is a resounding yes! You see Ireland may be unfancied, unfashionable but the Irish cricket team are survivors, scrappers, they are winners! 

How well could Ireland have done if they had had Eoin Morgan in their ranks?
Would Ireland now be better ranked if Ed Joyce had been in their side for the last 5 years?
The ICC have it all wrong:- the Eoin Morgan thing was a disgrace and the 2015 WC decision -well what can I say -what planet are you on ICC?
My advice to the boys in Green would be to throw the cards in -you should all put in for a transfer -seek out a long lost grandparent and send in your transfer requests If the ICC get an entire team of transfer requests then perhaps they will get the message. Taking Ireland out of Associate cricket is like taking India out of top flight cricket.

So ICC -is a hedgehog cool?

As I write this I am reminded of a time from my own childhood, by the road side was a dead hedgehog on the way to my granny’s house. This dead hedgehog sat and rotted in the gutter, ICC you not only killed Ireland cricket -you have left us to rot in the gutter!

Oh and finally don't worry if you are the audacious young Ireland spinner -Dockrell -as I suspect you will be playing in the 2015 World Cup.

 

Build stories with Storify

Web apps like Tumblr and Posterous make personal blogging really simple. While you can write long blog posts, you can also use a bookmarklet or email to submit individual content quickly. Storify is the next step in this evolution.

The new service is in beta and is all about the content curation from other social networking sites. For example, if you see a tweet and want to build a story around it, with the click of a button, you can drag it into your Storify story. This can also be used with Flickr photos, YouTube videos or a Facebook status update.

It seems that the interwebs are on the verge of a new wave of content curation. This is shown with startups like Storify and Curated.by that present users with a very low barrier of entry towards creating their own new content. It's sad, but true, that people just don't have the time to blog, so instead, why not enable them to do something with the content they're consuming?

The service's approach to spreading this content is excellent. If someone uses a tweet of yours for a Storify post, there's an option to ping you about it on Twitter so that you can share it as well. And best of all, all the content pulled into Storify links back to its original source, so that it can be shared too.

And you ask how they monetise this venture? Simple, insert sponsored content into Storify story streams.

Storify has raised $50,000 to date, and is continuing to grow. You can access the beta using the code: TCDISRUPT.

Facebook faces crash

Last Thursday saw Facebook suffer its worst crash in four years. It is thought that close to 135 million of Facebook's 500 million users were unable to log on to the site on Thursday evening.

The problems started around 7pm (UK time) and lasted for two and a half hours. Facebook blamed the problem on a software flaw that has caused a 'huge disruption' to the site.

This meant that the site had to be shut down whilst engineers worked to solve the problem. This sent Twitter into frenzy as millions of people posted comments about the shutdown.

One of Facebook's senior engineers, Robert Johnson, apologised to everyone who couldn't log on: "The key flaw that caused this outage to be so severe was an unfortunate handling of an error condition. An automated system [to fix the problem] ended up causing more damage than it fixed."

For the majority of people who were unable to log on, they were greeted with the message: "Network Error (dns_server_failure)".

Robert Johnson added: "Once the database had recovered and the root cause had been fixed, we slowly allowed more people back on to the site."

Facebook Places launches!

Last week saw the launch of Facebook places. The service allows users to check in at various locations and also allows users to create specific locations. The Facebook development team seem to have stolen the idea from Foursquare and Gowalla, who both have had these tools on the go for quite some time. 

Users of Facebook Places can see where their friends currently are, and if they are near them, at any time based on whether they have chosen to check-in their current location.

The product manager of Facebook Places, Michael Sharon, said: "Our products are modelled on how people are already using the site. We realised people were already posting where they were and who they were with every day."

He continued to say that the company had three distinct goals for Facebook Places. Firstly, that the tool makes it easier for people to share their location and who they are with. Secondly, people can use places to find friends who are nearby. And finally, the tool helps people discover new places and hotspots around them.

Facebook users can check in with their iPhone Facebook app or visit the mobile version of the site. Once 'checked in', the user's location and who they are with appears on the news feed of their friends.

With Facebook's 500 million members worldwide, it's tough to roll Places out all at once. They launched in the United States in August and are currently launching in the United Kingdom and Japan, with the hope of rolling out to the rest of Europe "as soon as possible".

Shocking stats for Facebook Mobile App

Facebook have recently started displaying their user statistics for their mobile apps for several platforms, and the numbers are just unbelievable. The iPhone has the hugest chunk of usage, with over 104 million active monthly users on iOS devices. Blackberry users stand at nearly 60 million, and just over 12 million use the Android client. 

So what do these numbers actually mean? The last count that Facebook published showed that they have over 500 million users. These statistics show that quite a large portion of these users are using mobile apps. Interestingly, the last reported number of iOS users from Apple at the WWDC in July was 100 million - but these Facebook statistics show that there are more. Could Facebook be bluffing?

The Twit Network - The Twitter Story

Over the past while, there has been a lot of YouTube activity with people posting mock-trailers, mostly inspired by the trailer for "The Social Network" - Facebook's story. 

YouTube and MySpace have had their turn. This time, it's Twitter that takes centre stage, with a hilarious parody of the trailer for "The Social Network". 

The trailer for the fake movie - The Twit Network - pokes fun at the stupidness and weirdness of tweets, including some celebrities. It also grabs on the concept of our obsession with celebrities and what they're doing, and the fantasy of sticking a 'tw-' at the front of any word to so with social media. 

Here's the trailer... Don't laugh too hard!

For those more on the Facebook side of the fence, here's the latest trailer for the Facebook movie, "The Social Network":

Adobe Lanches Photoshop Express iPad App

Adobe are well known for their design programs, such as: Illustrator, Fireworks, Premiere and Photoshop. Photoshop is one of the essentials for any designer or photographer - so why not make it portable?

The Photoshop Express app is a rework of the original Photoshop app and is compatible with all of Apple's products with iOS3 or above. This includes the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad. This portability allows editing of photos, with compatibility for Photoshop.com and Facebook - allowing uploads to both.

Here's are some of the new features:

• Support for portrait and landscape orientations.
• Redesigned Online, Edit and Upload workflows.
• Ability to work on multiple photos in sequence from within a single workflow.
• Redesigned Organiser view with simplified album sharing.
• Updated icons and visuals that make it easier to navigate and use the Editor.
• Ability to upload to Photosop.com and Facebook simultaneously.

Below are two of the App Store screenshots.

  

Five Ways to boost Traffic to -Planet Me!

Here are five ways to keep your networking muscles in tip-top shape so your personal brand is always top of mind:

1) Share often. An easy and quick way to keep contacts abreast of what you're doing and to spur interaction and conversation is to update your Facebook and/or LinkedIn status regularly. By staying silent, you keep the door closed to communication, but by sharing something-a success, a goal, a wish, an observation-you provide regular opportunities for contacts to engage with you.

2) Pay attention. Browse the online profiles of those with whom you want to build a closer connection and find a reason to interact. Make a comment, offer help, wish them luck, whatever is appropriate based on what they're posting. Those light touches over time can strengthen bonds more effectively than going for one big bang interaction.

3) Add routine. Join a professional organization or networking group to put some structure and frequency to your networking. It's in your calendar, like a standing appointment with your personal trainer. You know that the last Tuesday evening of the month, or the third Friday at lunch, for example, is your monthly meeting. You don't have to think about it.

4) Think small. For your contacts who aren't social media junkies, sometimes the only way to get visibility and stay on their radar screens is face-to-face. While big events can help you circulate with multiple contacts in one sitting, getting together for a one-on-one coffee can often do more to deepen relationships with the key people in your network.

5) Test market. Describing what you do can sometimes get stale. Either you get so used to giving the same elevator pitch that it sounds rote, or contacts have heard it so often that they've tuned out. In your networking interactions, test new ways of saying who you are and what you do. You just might find a better combination that more easily generates the response you want.

This info provided by Liz Lynch http://www.networkingexcellence.com

If you would like to follow Philip Wilson and InternetSense http://www.Twitter.com/InternetSense

Interested in hearing Philip Wilson talk Sense?Well you just have to ask!Over the next few weeks Philip will be speaking knowledgeably on 'The Power of Online Networking' and 'Social Networking it is all about You and Me!'