Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Matt.
First, some digital stuff.
1. Google Duo
Google has rolled out a new one-to-one video calling app by the name of Duo, which the company is touting as the “video calling app for everyone”.
On its official blog, Google said:
“Video calling is the next best thing to being with someone in person, but too often it can be a frustrating or complicated experience. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are.”
If that doesn’t say “Facetime is lame”, I don’t know what does.
Of course, this is not Google’s first foray into the world of video calling. Three years ago the company launched Hangouts; a service that, at the time, was also marketed to everyone. With the arrival of Duo, Google has said it will increasingly focus Hangouts on business customers – yay.
Whether or not Duo will become the Facetime killer that Google hopes it will be is yet to be seen, but as a recent Android convert, I’m in full support of a video calling app that actually works, so here’s hoping.
2. #22PushupChallenge
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? Well there’s a new challenge sweeping through your social media feeds, and this time there’s press-ups.
As reported by Yahoo News:
“In response to an organization called 22Kill, which is looking to rack up 22 million push-ups to raise awareness about the 22 veterans who die by suicide every single day, people all over the world are posting videos of themselves performing push-ups – a worthy purpose with a solid payoff.”
I’m always dubious of social media challenges as there’s a sense that people get involved to raise awareness of themselves, rather than the cause. However, with the Ice Bucket Challenge raising $115 million for The ALS Association, there’s no denying a lot of good can come of all that insufferable showboating. Best of luck to everyone who’s getting involved.
… And now, with the Olympics in full swing, here’s my top three Rio-related moments of the week:
My bronze medal goes to: “Bosh, right on his face!”
(Check out the BBC Sport page for full and hilarious video and commentary)
Taking silver, it’s “Shlong jump”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIRmVw3zP4U
Sometimes headlines just write themselves.
And the gold medal goes to “Pacific motion”
There’s so much to love about David Katoatau; his dancing, his smile, his ability to lift up really heavy things, but mostly the fact he’s doing it all of it to raise awareness of the threat climate change poses to his home island of Kiribati, which is being swallowed up by the ocean at an alarming rate.
In a world where sporting headlines are dominated by non-stories about overpaid prima donnas, we need more Davids.
You can check out the full video of David dancing here.
