Tech for Good Live

Happy New Year and welcome back to the Tech for Good Live podcast! 

It is a brand new year filled – so far – with the same kind of awful as 2020. I guess a consistent level of horror is better than a rollercoaster of horror?

In this episode, we’ll be talking about LGBTQ+ arrests in Egypt, an increase in donations to charities in the US, Google scraping the barrel of evil and finding out that it just keeps on giving and also a heartwarming story about a robot dog in an apocalyptic wasteland. Oh, and a new rant about partnerships in the tech for good sector.

Host Bex is joined by fellow TFGL team members Greg Ashton and Ben White

Our special guest this week is Human rights centred and humanitarian designer. Eriol Fox! 

A multi-skilled designer with 9+ years of experience in the design industry across in-house roles, Eriol actively works to make tech and design more inclusive .

Eriol also runs LGBTQIA+ in Tech in Bristol, is part of the leadership group of Tech for Good SW and helps run Fuse Jam.

This week’s topics:

Stat of the week: 

Arrests in Egypt of the LGBTQ+ community have increased over 5 times in the last 10 years. This has been aided by data from apps such as Grindr - Slate

Charity news of the week:  

In America donations to some small and mid-sized charitable organizations were up 7.6% in the first nine months of 2020 over 2019 - Reuters

Tech news of the week: 

Google ends 2020 "well" - Reuters

But it's staff continue to try and change things - The Verge

And finally… 

Spot the dog is helping clean up Chernobyl's reactor - Syfy

(and as promised by Bex, the Boston Dynamics Scottish Department)

Plugs

If you’re a designer curious about Open Source software, join Eriol discussing Open Source Design projects at opensourcedesign.net.

Ben is looking for talent to join the team at Reason Digital reasondigital.com/career-opportunities.

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

Welcome back to yet another episode of the Tech for Good Live podcast.

If you listen carefully, you might just hear the sound of sleigh bells ringing. Why? Because it’s the Christmas episode of the podcast!

Right now, across the world, parents carry out their most treasured Christmas tradition: sterilising the chimney and immediate areas around the Christmas tree. Remember, Santa is very, very old, and quite overweight so he’s in a high risk category. Protect him please. Keep your filthy diseased hands away from him.

The Tech for Good Live team has grown over the last year, so there’s about a thousand of us on this podcast, and we’re going to look back to some of the highlights and low-lights of the last year. Think of it like Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, but without the talent or audience.

Joining host Bex on this festive treat:

Greg Ashton

Jonny Rae-Evans

Hera Hussain

Ben White

Fay Schofield

Harry Bailey 

Ankur Asthana & Marium Navid, Members of the team behind the creation of the Hold the Line Guide

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Thanks for listening and see you in 2021!

What did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

Welcome to another episode of “Making Friends With…” - a special series where the Tech for Good Live team sit down for an in-depth interview with someone who is doing exceptional work in the tech industry.

In this episode, Sam Milsom is talking data and privacy with Anouk Ruhaak, a Mozilla Fellow working on data governance models & data trusts.

You can find out more about Anouk at her website anoukruhaak.com and you can follow her on Twitter @anoukruhaak

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please drop us a review on iTunes, and if you’d like to hear more interviews and conversations like this, let us know who you’d recommend we interview.

Send thoughts, suggestions and feedback on Twitter @techforgoodlive.

On this week's show we’re talking about just how effective the labelling of former president – and future prison inmate – Donald Trump’s social media posts has become by Facebook and Twitter.

We discuss MacOS privacy and look at a study on the mental health benefits of gaming. If there’s a comments section to that study though, I wouldn’t recommend looking at it.

Regulars Bex and Greg are joined by special guest Maddie Stark from Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Digital for Good co-organiser.

This show was recorded on 17th November 2020

This week’s topics:

Stat of the week 

Study proves the anecdotal assumption that trump tweets to distract from topics harmful to him - Sky News

And labelling his posts only reduces shares by 8% in Facebook - Buzzfeed

Charity news of the week

The Catalyst service recipes

Tech news of the week

Apple and why bragging can be a dangerous advertising tactic. But also, how everyone should be handling these types of stories

Apple Responds to macOS Privacy Concerns, Explains Why Apps Were Slow to Launch - iPhone In Canada

Apple illegally tracks iPhone users to target them with ads, EU privacy activism group claims in lawsuit - MSN

Some organisation are much more shameful in their handling of data

How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps - Vice 

And finally…

 Gaming for good mental health

Video gaming can benefit mental health, find Oxford academics

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

Welcome to yet another episode of the Tech for Good Live podcast. This time we’re talking about how fossil fuels just aren’t that hot any more. It’s all about them renewables, y’know. We discuss The Brooke charity’s use of 360 video, and we’re talking about a new, and fabulous, research study, courtesy of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Bex is on hosting duties and is joined by TFGL team members Jonny Rae-Evans and Greg Ashton

This week’s special guest is Dr Brendan Keegan, Digital Marketing Lecturer at MMU.  

He’s on the pod to talk to us about the amazing funded PhD scholarship opportunity GOGREEN ROUTES 

This show was recorded on 10th November 2020.

Stat of the week: 

Renewables employed three times as many people as fossil fuel during the trump years

And yet they're going to pump more money into the industry following covid. Unless Biden can change that. Meanwhile the UK is one of the nation's to focus more on in renewables:

Charity news of the week: 

Brooke charity for horses, donkeys and mules tells the story using 360 videos. Why don't we see more of these?

Tech news of the week: 

Trump team sets up phone line for reporting voter fraud. Immediately gets inundated with fake calls

We previously complained about Tim Berners-Lee and his white male team of internet heroes. Now they are ready to launch with some pretty big names signed up:

And finally…

Ethical alternative to Amazon sites amazingly well on its first day

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

Welcome to yet another episode of the Tech for Good Live podcast. Nothing can stop us. Not the pandemic, not the deep sense of shame we feel at the end of every episode, and not even that online petition that Bex's mum started. Nothing!

In this show we're talking about volunteering! We're talking about free school meals! And – just to mix things up – we're talking about Facebook.

Bex is on hosting duties and is joined by TFGL team members Jonny Rae-Evans and Greg Ashton

Our special guest this week is Matt Williams, self declared Generalist and problem solver.

Recorded on Oct 27 2020.

Discussed on the show:

Stat of the week

24 per cent of people living in ‘social cohesion investment areas’ had volunteered in the last month, compared to eight per cent elsewhere; they also reported feeling more optimistic, happier in their relationships and more positive about immigrants

Charity news of the week

Matt has done some brilliant working mapping the businesses that helped out with free school meals

Tech news of the week: 

Facebook are not keen on prying eyes - The Verge

Which could impact this brilliant new project, Citizen Browser - The Markup

And finally… 

Support your community, reduce landfill, make kids happy. Sounds great! - YoungPlanet

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

Welcome to the Tech for Good Live podcast! It’s a podcast all about technology being used for good. If you’d figured that out already… well… that’s what they call in the biz “good branding”.

In this episode we’re talking about Facebook and democracy. We look at some COVID data which is apparently beautifully presented. That seems like the priority right now. AND we’re talking about the charity Reclaim having to go to war with an absolute arse.

Bex is on hosting duties and is joined by TFGL team members Jonny Rae-Evans and Greg Ashton

Topics discussed:

Stat of the week

Facebook working hard to stop obstructing voting in the US - The Guardian

Amazing analysis of global covid data beautifully presented - FT

Charity news of the week

Laurence fox picks the wrong name for his new 'political' party - The Guardian

Tech news of the week: 

Can tech really live up to the hype when it comes to real science? - The Register

And finally… 

Lego. Dogs. Selfie’s. What more do you want?...maybe not selfies - The Verge

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens.

The US election is upon us, and since today’s already going to be a complete-nightmare from which we may never awake, we figured... what’s the harm in adding to the horror, by doing a live recording.

In this election special we’ll be talking about political facebook adverts. We’ll be talking about bias accusations against social media. We’ll be talking about the Hold the Line – a guide to defending democracy. And we’ll be talking about hackers – not the movie – and online attacks during the campaign.

Bex is on hosting duties and the bumper line up for this election special includes TFGL team members Jonny Rae-Evans, Fay Schofield and Greg Ashton

And we have multiple guests with us!

Marium and Ankur, Members of the team behind the creation of the Hold the Line Guide - a guide for everyday folks to take action to make sure the US election is free and fair.

Stat of the week: 

Biden campaign pays double for Facebook ads - The Markup

And Facebook doesn’t follow its own rules for conservative content over fears of conservative bias accusations - The Verge

Charity news of the week: 

What is Hold The Line and how does it help

Tech news of the week: 

Who calls the election? - Reuters

Democrats and Republicans face issues with hackers and online attacks

Wisconsin Republican Party says hackers stole $2.3 million - AP

Russian hacker group reportedly targeted state Democratic parties in repeat of 2016 attacks - The Verge 

And finally… 

Train saved by whales tail sculpture called “Saved by the whales tail” - Sky News

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast. 

If you’d like to be thanked on the podcast for giving us some cash, contact us on [email protected]. I promise we’ll spend it on transcription and not on kittens. 

Welcome to another episode of “Making Friends With…” - a special series where the Tech for Good Live team sit down for an in-depth interview with someone who is doing exceptional work in the tech industry.

In this episode, Fay Schofield is chatting with Hardy Merriman and Kifah Shah, members of the team behind Hold The Line, a guide to defending democracy.

The guide is designed to help people from all walks of life take action to ensure that the US election is free and fair, and that the results are respected.

The guide was put together by Hardy Merriman, Ankur Asthana, Marium Navid, and Kifah Shah, Researchers, organizers, and activists, who've seen how people-powered movements have protected freedom and democracy around the world.

You can find out more about Hold The Line at holdthelineguide.com, and on Twitter @TheRedLineGuide.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Please drop us a review on iTunes, and if you’d like to hear more interviews and conversations like this, let us know who you’d recommend we interview.

Send thoughts, suggestions and feedback on Twitter @techforgoodlive.

Everything is on fire as local lockdowns are declared. Tech bros are being tech bros on Twitter again, and the US political system is dying in real time before our very eyes. So, not much has changed since March.

Don’t despair though, because what better way to bring some joy and delight into your otherwise dreary day, than listen to us prattle on about Tech for Good.

We’re talking data and WASTE. And not just any old waste. Waste that the UK is exporting to Malaysia. Never let them tell you that British exports are on the decline…

Someone, finally, on the Tech for Good Live team, has become a bit respectable, so obviously we’ll be talking about that.

Oh, and Google has finally taken some action against the Proud Boys

Guest hosting this week is Sophie Walker. She’s joined by Tom Passmore and our special guest Edafe Onerhime. Edafe is an expert on effective use of data. She has over 20 years of experience working with data in business, for government and with non-profits. 

This week’s topics:

Stat of the week

UK waste exports to Malaysia increased by 81% in the first half of the year - Circular Online

Charity news of the week

Our Hera won a British Empire Medal

Tech news of the week

Google Takes Action Against Proud Boys’ Use of Cloud Platform Following Pressure from Color Of Change - Color of Change

Nice things this week

World Standards Day! 

The Inside Scoop of Ben & Jerry - Infographic 

And finally… 

Experience how "artificial intelligence" judges your face, without giving up your privacy - How Normal am I?

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Listeners, what did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Get in touch on twitter @techforgoodlive or Email at [email protected] 

We’d love it if you gave us a nice iTunes review and told your pals about this podcast!

Thanks to podcast.co for hosting our podcast.