This month's menu

Just off the wire

Do responsive websites get a rankings boost from Google?.

Blot Links

Hidden logo meanings

You might think that company logos are just pretty graphics knocked out in a few minutes. In some cases you might be right, but done properly a company logo is a corporate identity that encapsulates the ethos and values of the company.

They can cost thousands of pounds because of the research, design and thought effort put in to create them.

Ones that are successful are instantly recognisable and immediately articulate what the company is about. Also, some of the most successful have included messages that might not be obvious..

For example, can you see what the Amazon logo is telling you?

Check out this article to find the hidden meanings in some everyday logos.

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Will Uber give drivers the finger?

Uber just can't stay out of the news, can they?

And any news is good PR, right?

Maybe. But this month it is about the depth of the background checks they do on their drivers.

It's probably not unreasonable to expect that the person driving your rideshare car is of decent character. Congress would like to see Uber (and similar companies) fingerprinting drivers and checking out their records, but there is a good reason why they don't really want to do this.

Uber reckon their process is no less worse than that used by taxi drivers - is that good enough?

Find out more …

Stems - future of DJ music?

Stems is a new music format based on the mp4 container.

The format consists of four 'stem' tracks that represent music elements; drums, bass, melody, vocals, and a fifth track containing the stereo master.

It's an open format in that details and software to produce stem music are readily available.

The key to the format is that DJs and producers can easily mix and apply effects to the different stems so that each performance of the music becomes a 'live' event.

It doesn't take much to start producing music in the format or to start playing it back, so it could be the start of something big.

Read more …