Good morning hopefulites! 😯
The Friday sun is rising over Athens as I prepare these 5 social tools and tips. All things I’ve come across or re-discovered in the past weeks. Please enjoy!
1. Translation tool I’ve been using: Online Doc Translator – There are 3 reasons to love this: 1) It’s better than Google Translate as it preserves the exact layout of your document, 2) It’s free, and 3) It brilliantly supports right-to-left text so perfect for translating into and out of Arabic or Farsi. I’ve fallen back in love with this tool after using it a LOT during my time in Greece. If any organisation out there doesn’t have all their policies available in languages that reach all their community, then just bung everything into here and get an 80%-good-enough job done in seconds!
2. Opinions I’m canvassing: Duolingo effectiveness – Duolingo’s CEO Luis von Ahn can often be heard talking about how successful engagement on the Duolingo app is. It’s the core of the very compelling TED talk above. But, what I hear about a lot less are the outcomes of their students. Do people really progress? If you use Duolingo, shoot me back a line or two about whether you feel you’ve meaningfully progressed on the app, or not.
3. Urinals I’m shocked at: Bulgaria’s Happy Grill Chain – Proudly (and bizarrely) announcing it won the London 2023 Best Restaurant Award, we visited Bulgaria’s most prominent national restaurant chain several times during our trip last week in the country. Fair prices, an American-vibe and an extensive menu explains the popularity. But it’s the bathrooms that shocked me. (Note, there were no comparativeposters in the female loos).
 |
4. Privacy protection I’m tacking: Quick adjustments to Facebook via Privacy Centre – It’s shocking what we opt into. But it’s also relieving to know that in just a few minutes you can wrest back some control from the social media tycoons. Stop providing so much personal data on Facebook by: Settings>Privacy>Privacy Centre. Then start with the Ads option and click get started>Review Ad Preferences>Select your account>Ad Settings – and then you can basically switch off a LOT of settings and deny many rights. (Note, the way Facebook have designed their privacy centre makes you think privacy is all about deciding what you want to share with your friends – you have to follow these steps to change what you share with them! It’s also a clicking and tab-opening nightmare, but well worth it!).
5. Advocacy strategy I love: Safe Passage’s Routes to Safety – I love this new strategy with its Executive Summary that’s short and easy to read. It carefully co-opts and turns on its head the kind of headline-grabbing language used by politicians on deterring migrants and garnering populist support. This strategy doesn’t just complain or whine for change: it outlines the concrete and tangible approaches needed to create safe routes for asylum seekers. Well worth reading over your morning coffee!
📣 Callouts from me and my network
👨💻 Need an awesome website? – check out GSF Creations, my new sustainable web design agency
🧡 Fundraising Trustee at Refugee Biriyani & Bananas (where I’m also a Trustee)
📱 Honest Mobile – use referral code jacobwarn1994 to join the UK’s most sustainable network
That’s it for this fortnight. As ever, please let me know your thoughts and feedback – and send anything you’d like me to include in upcoming editions this way.
