Dublin Spar employee’s act of kindness goes viral

Uncategorized

Nov 24, 2014

This lovely story has officially restored our faith in humanity!

Panti Bliss shared a story from another friend on Facebook last night and it has since gone viral, for good reason.

A customer was in Spar on Dublin’s Baggot Street when they were met with homophobic slurs from fellow customers. Overhearing the slurs used, the employee behind the counter refused to serve the two people responsible for the disgraceful behaviour – what a win!

Four wins for you, Spar Guy – you go Spar Guy!

Update: Since the story of Spar Guy went viral yesterday, it would appear that Panti's friend Colm has been experiencing not only support, but a lot of abuse too. Panti updated the story on her Facebook page, which you can see here:

We hope Colm only pays attention to the support he is receiving and doesn't give the trolls the attention they want.

Actor forced to prove he is alive after death hoax

Celebrity

Oct 27, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Fans were left devastated when it was reported that The Breakfast Club actor, Judd Nelson had died.

Thankfully, the report was totally WRONG and Judd is alive and well – proven today by his agent.

The photo features the 55-year-old actor holding up an edition of yesterday’s LA Times newspaper.

Judd played bad boy John Bender in the 1984 cult classic The Breakfast Club alongside other members of the Brat Pack such as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and Emilio Estevez as well as St. Elmo's Fire, another cult classic.

We’re glad these awful rumours have been cleared up and that Judd is alive and well!

Heartbreak as family of singer announce she has passed away

Celebrity

Oct 19, 2014

by Amber Saunders

It has been confirmed by the family of American Idol contestant Joanne Borgella that she passed away on the 18th October last.

The 32-year-old was battling cancer and tragically lost her fight against the disease yesterday.

Her family announced the heartbreaking news on Facebook, writing: “To God be the glory! With heavy heart, we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Joanne. On Saturday, October 18, 2014 at 5.45am, Joanne Borgella Ramirez was called by the Lord to heaven. At an early age, Joanne made a choice to love and trust the Lord; and since her diagnosis over a year ago, Joanne made a choice to be a fighter and share her journey with the world. Her faith, courage and strength were unshaken throughout every obstacle she encountered. Although our family is suffering with this great loss, we find comfort in the closeness Joanne shared with the Lord. We know her spirit still shines and will continue to live on in heaven.”

Joanne made it to the top 12 girls on American Idol back in 2008.

Since then she has become a familiar face on US television, appearing on MTV's Made and NUVOtv's Curvy Girls.

The singer and actress shared updates of her diagnosis with her fans through videoes.

Here is a reminder of the amazing talent Joanne shared with the world during her appearance on American Idol.

Our thoughts are with Joanne’s family at this difficult time.

Facebook and Apple will pay for employees to have eggs frozen

Oct 15, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Starting in January, Apple will pay for female employees to freeze their eggs in order to allow them to have children at a later stage.

Though the process will cost up to $20,000 for the company, they spoke of the importance of such a project: “We continue to expand our benefits for women, with a new extended maternity leave policy, along with cryopreservation and egg storage as part of our extensive support for infertility treatments … We also offer an Adoption Assistance program, where Apple reimburse expenses associated with the legal adoption of a child. We want to empower women at Apple to for the best work of their lives as they care for loved ones and raise their families" a spokesperson for Apple said.

Typically, freezing eggs can be a very expensive endeavour, often costing up to $12,000 with an extra $1,000 per year of storage. Drug fees and the recommended amount of eggs to be frozen can often run this figure even higher making this no small move by either company.

It has also been reported that Facebook have been offering the service to their female employees since last January.

It is thought these moves by the Silicon Valley giants will increase the number of women in CEO positions and make the talent pool that bit more competitive.

The 10 people we love to hate on Facebook

Uncategorized

Sep 16, 2014

by Amber Saunders

We all have them, we complain and moan about them… But we still don’t ‘hide’ them.

1. The Bragger
This is the friend who is posting about all of their material items. Example: “New Car!” “New Phone!” “New Hair!” Also posts exotic holiday snaps when the rest of us are stuck in work or college, and the only beach we will see is the one on our desktop wallpaper.

2. The Selfie Queen
This person is CONSTANTLY posting pictures of themself, although you’re pretty sure you know what they look like already.

3. The Joker
Everyone has a few of these; the ones who post random hilarious statements that you have definitely pondered in your own head before but have never been ballsy enough to say aloud…

4. The Music Buff
This person usually falls into the indie or hipster category and posts a yYouTubelink for some new, hip, under recognised band on a daily basis and just KNOWS you haven't heard of them.

5. The Duck Face
Usually girls, this is the one who is always posting pictures of them out on the town, glammed up to the max, pulling the most perfected duck face you have ever seen.

6. The Hangover Fiend
This is the kind of people who post statuses about how “unbelievably dyyyyin” they are, or who are tagged in photos looking worse for wear after a heavy night of boozing.

7. The Foodie
This is the person who uploads photos of the meal they’re about to eat/have just eaten. So. Annoying. And it makes us have uncontrollable cravings… Foooooooood, nom. At least they're inspiration though.

8. The Promoter
That guy who invites you to every event under the sun, knowing that you have no intention, nor will you ever have, of going to the “Ladies Poker Night” or the “Sexy Strippers” club evening.

9. The Hypocrite
This is the friend who posts really positive, uplifting quotes, or links inspirational stories, but you know that in person they are pessimistic, down trodden and miserable. Also the people who make cruel, unnecessary comments one week, then post a status about how that-thing-they-said-last-week is a pet peeve of theirs.

10. The Moaner
Constantly taking to Facebook to post about what a bad day they’re having, or to write about pointless things none of us care about, such as “Waiting for the bus in the rain :(” Shut up please.

via our content partner

What does making it ‘Facebook Official’ say about you?

Relationships

Aug 28, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Watching your Facebook timeline fill up with status updates about how great your friend’s new boyfriend is, or photos of their matching slippers as they have a “cosy night in!” may make your stomach turn, but new research has shown that it can reveal a lot more than their cheesiness.

According to Albright College, people whose confidence depends on their relationship status are more likely to overshare on social media. The experts call this ‘relationship-contingent self-esteem’.

They surveyed a group of volunteers, with couples who had been together for just a month, all the way up to 30 years, and asked them about their satisfaction and relationship-related Facebook habits. They also surveyed them separately and asked them about ‘The Big 5’: extroversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

What they found was that people with high relationship-contingent-self-esteem (RCSE) have lower overall self-esteem and higher social anxiety. One of the authors of the study, Gwendolyn Seidman, explains: “There is positive correlation between your self-esteem being contingent on relationships and it being contingent on other things external to you (e.g., others' approval).

“Those high in RCSE feel the need to show others, their partners and perhaps themselves that their relationship is ‘OK,’ and thus, they are OK.”

Apparently introverts are more inclined to show off their relationship on Facebook, aswell as keeping tabs on their partner’s online activity:

“Introverted individuals [can] feel more comfortable expressing hidden aspects of the self online, so maybe they would be more comfortable expressing affection online or using [Facebook] as a way to seek out information about their partner by monitoring their activity.”

However, while this may give the cynics among us satisfaction, as it sounds like these people aren’t REALLY happy in their relationship and it’s all just for show, this isn’t necessarily the case: “I think they’d be surprised to hear that it is associated with being genuinely happy in their relationships.”

So they’re not overcompensating for their terrible relationship by posting a photo of the breakfast their boyfriend made them – now we’re REALLY jealous!

Facebook is now warning people about satirical posts

Uncategorized

Aug 18, 2014

by Amber Saunders

With sites like Waterford Whispers News, Daily Mash and The Onion clearly confusing too many people out there (where are they?) Facebook have decided to tag them as satirical.

The social media giant spoke to BBC about the move, saying: “We are running a small test which shows the text ‘[Satire]’ in front of links to satirical articles in the related articled unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units.”

The tag will be tried out first by the company before they decide whether to make it a permanent fixture or not.

So, if you were one of the people confused by articles such as this, and even worse, commented on them, you have officially ruined all of our fun.

It was the Ryan Tubridy Waterford Whispers article that caused all of this, wasn't it? Definitely worth it.

To make this news even more disappointing, site Literally Unebelievable, has been capturing people's reactions to The Onion. Needless to say, they are hilarious and we will miss them.

Bride tells Facebook pals EXACTLY why they’re not invited to wedding!

Lifestyle

Aug 9, 2014

by Amber Saunders

OK, so everybody knows that the bride is ALWAYS right!

But we’re not sure if some of the pals of this bride will agree!

As her big day got closer, the bride read her ‘friends’ the riot act, letting them know exactly why they wouldn’t be getting an invite to her wedding!

She took to FACEBOOK – that’s right, she went public with her gripes – to list the reasons some pals weren’t worthy enough to make the cut.

She wrote, “We are sending out invites for the wedding this week. We only have so much room at the church and reception. I’m going to try and make this as simple as possible so no one gets butt hurt. If you do not get an invite here is a list of potential reasons why.”

She went on to list the reasons why some pals wouldn’t get the honour of watching her walk down the aisle.

1. If I have invited you everytime [sic] we have a group function and you never show up

2. If you are just a work acquaintance and I have never hung out with you outside of work

3. If I show up to thinks [sic] you invite me to and you never show up to our invites or even respond

4. If I have only hung out with you in a group setting and we’re not that close of friends

5. If at any point you have ever talked shit about me or [groom] your [sic] definitely not invited

6. If your [sic] only going to show up for food and alcohol and really have no interest other than that

7. If you got married and I thought we were friends and you didn’t invite me

This bride really doesn’t mince her words!

Watch out: your apps are spying on you!

Uncategorized

Aug 8, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Are you one of the 1,000,000,000 people who have the Facebook Messenger app on their phone?

You are also probably one of the 90% of people who don’t read the Terms and Conditions before accepting.

If so you might be in for a shock.

Facebook is not known for its defence of privacy at the best of times, but when one man actually stopped to read the terms and conditions for the messaging app he was left speechless.

When you install Facebook Messenger you not only give it access to all your personal details, but it can record you using the camera and microphone, at any time, without asking.

Using the app, Facebook can take and send on any information about you it wants, and can even call and text people with your phone without you knowing about it. And it’s you who is charged for the privilege.

Scary.

If you decide to keep this app, keep a close watch for any unexplained charges. Your phone could be living a life of its own.

The most worrying Terms and Conditions include:

– Allows the app to call phone numbers without your intervention. This may result in unexpected charges or calls. Malicious apps may cost you money by making calls without your confirmation.

– Allows the app to send SMS messages. This may result in unexpected charges. Malicious apps may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation.

– Allows the app to record audio with microphone. This permission allows the app to record audio at any time without your confirmation

– Allows the app to take pictures and videos with the camera. This permission allows the app to use the camera at any time without your confirmation.

– Allows the app to read your phone's call log, including data about incoming and outgoing calls. This permission allows apps to save your call log data, and malicious apps may share call log data without your knowledge.

– Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your phone, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals.

– Allows the app to read personal profile information stored on your device, such as your name and contact information. This means the app can identify you and may send your profile information to others.

– Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.

Allows the app to get a list of accounts known by the phone. This may include any accounts created by applications you have installed.

Shoe company under fire for ‘husband hunting’ shoes!

Uncategorized

Aug 7, 2014

by Amber Saunders

American fashion label, Nine West, has received a lot of backlash this week, as a result of their latest marketing campaign.

The ads which have seemed to cause most offense involve images of women on the hunt for future husbands in stilettos.

One of their ads features a woman's leg in a leopard print shoe with her hand holding an arrow. However, it's the caption "starter husband-hunting” which has upset many women, with many saying it was old fashioned and not a true reflection of modern women.

Customers did not react well to these images and were quick to post their disgust online

One Twitter user said: “You know me so well, Nine West. All I'm interested in is snagging a man. I mean, it is still 1950, right?”

Another user was quick to criticise the fashion campaign: “Next up the perfect shoes for making a sandwich like come on. Couldn't they be great shoes for interviews? Empowering self esteem?”

Senior vice president of marketing for Nine West, Erika Szychowski, said that their new advert campaign reflects how modern age women now act.

"We have to change the way we talk about occasions because women are modern now and shop for a different reason. ‘Starter husband hunting,’ for example, might once have been called night-on-the-town shoes.”

Hmm, we’re not sure if your customers agree Erika. What do you think of these adverts? Do you think they’re offensive to women?

This man used his fridge to propose to his long-time girlfriend!

Uncategorized

Aug 7, 2014

by Amber Saunders

We’ve seen our fair share of unusual but sweet proposals – however, Donnie McGilvray’s is definitely our favourite by far.

Donnie decided to pop the question to his long-time girlfriend, Eloise by using his fridge and conveniently lined up bottles of coke.

When Eloise opened the fridge, six bottles of coke spelt out Donnie’s sweet marriage proposal: “Beautiful Eloise will you marry me.”

Eloise of course accepted, and Donnie went on to share the proposal snap on the Coco Cola Facebook page. The post has since gained over 170,000 likes.

Congrats to the happy couple!

9 things you should never do on social media

Uncategorized

Jul 30, 2014

by Amber Saunders

We all have those Facebook friends that we regret accepting, and generally it's because of one (or more) of these irritating habits:

1. Using Text Spelling

It’s 2k14 now, this is not Bebo and the only people who speak like that any more are 13 year olds and our parents. Sadly for them, they caught on to the trend eight years too late. We just don’t have the heart (or nerve) to tell them.

2. Detailing Your Relationship(s)

Why all of the tongue?! By all means, be in love, but 57 photos of a kiss? Nooooo!

3. Cheesy Check In’s

We all know someone who checks into bed. Why? WHY? We all go to bed, most of us visit it every night, in fact. Any check-in involving a couple and either a couch, bed or hotel and involving the word ‘snuggle,’ needs to be stopped. Now. Jealous? Us? Never.

4. Uploading An Excessive Amount Of Selfies

Many people feel the need to take thousands (not an exaggeration) of selfies and then share them.

5. Uploading Excessive Pictures In General

We get that you went to Magaluf. We get that you made new friends and drank yourself into oblivion, night after night. We just wish that you would get that we don’t need to see two hundred odd blurry images of it all. No really.

6. Having A Stupid Job Title