Derek Richardson - My Digital Domain

My Digital Domain

Cries & Whispers

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For Christmas this year I bought a book that was released in September and asked my daughter to give it to me as a present. I like getting something I really want rather than a random gift. I’m weird like that or maybe not.

The present was a book written by Anthony Reynolds:  Cries And Whispers 1983 – 1991


Anthony Reynolds:  Cries And Whispers 1983 – 1991

It was the follow up to his book: “Japan – A Foreign Place” The first book was very enjoyable and I was  thrilled to find out he had written a new book.

Detailing the fascinating musical adventures of Richard Barbieri, Rob Dean, Steve Jansen, Mick Karn and David Sylvian from 1983 to 1991, the book takes in Sylvian’s solo work, The Dolphin Brothers, Dali’s Car, the brilliant but ill-feted reunion release Rain Tree Crow, and more.

It was such a good read with so many bits of information that put a lot of things into perspective.  When I had finished the book I had remembered that I hadn’t finished the other book about David Sylvian called: ” On The Periphery by Chris Young” The reason I had not got through the 384 page book was due to the print size, it was really small – must be an age thing. Then I thought, I wonder if the book was available on Kindle, and guess what? It was – so I downloaded the book and found when I had read up to and threw myself back into the book.

On The Periphery by Chris Young

I learnt a rather amazing story which I would like to share with you.

Do you remember the song by Madonna called “Justify My Love?” Well the story goes…

The song was written by Madonna, Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez (the then wife of David Sylvian) Lenny however convinced Ingrid that she shouldn’t put her name down as one of the songwriters. We don’t know why exactly, but Ingrid decided to take them to court and it was suggested that she received a $2 million payout for the error, it is believed that some of this money was used to help David finish his album: “Dead Bees on a Cake”

I must thank Chris Young for writing such an in-depth book.

Yes, I have been slack!

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Hello, how are you? Yes, I know it’s been a while. Lots have been happening, which I can’t get into right now. I can however say that I am really looking forward to the SA DJ Legends party on the 1st June in Windsor, London.

Book Tickets Here

The other big news is that we are making a weekend of the trip. There is another party on the Saturday night. It’s a ‘Boat Party’ on the River Thames, now that is going to be awesome. It’s going to be amazing to see the guys again, it’s been a long time!

Book Tickets Here

We have been having some stunning weather here on the Isle of Man and it’s hard to believe that the Isle of Man TT 2018 starts this Saturday with the first practice. Let’s hope the weather holds out. The picture above was taken last week from our bedroom window, isn’t beautiful?

Chat soon!

The Bandit is heading to London in the Summer!

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I love how social media has changed our lives, we are connected and it’s easy enough to find someone. That’s just what happened a few weeks ago. I got a message on my Facebook page from Clive who is arranging a South African Reunion party with some amazing guys I haven’t seen for a while.

The event is taking place on Friday the 1st of June, the peak of summer in the UK at a venue in Windsor called: “VanillaWindsor” with SA. DJ Legends, Alex Jay, Paul Almeida, Mario Viegas, DJ Dizzy, Sasha Martinengo and me DTB.

Tickets are selling fast, so if you would like to grab yourself deal there is only a few ‘Early Bird’ tickets left, get them now.

If you have any Saffa friends in the UK, please spread the word. It would be fantastic to see everyone there!

Thanks for sharing!

The Beast Has Moved On!

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Picture By John Price

So the beast from the east was rather unpleasant last week. I don’t think I have ever been this cold on the Isle of Man, ever since we arrived nearly ten years ago. Day time temperatures we only between 0 or -2 Celsius, now we are at 6C which is so much better!

In January I wrote about FacebookZero, which is about the drop in organic reach for brand pages. Now it looks like Facebook is targeting groups, they have rolled out a ‘Boost’ test button on some groups which tell us one thing; that organic reach in groups is dropping and this was confirmed in a graph I saw last week.  The way forward on Facebook is a paid media strategy, make sure you don’t miss out as the costs are expected to rise by 50% in this first half of the year and then it is predicated to double by year end.

I’ve been paying attention to the price of Bitcoin closely and if the price hits $11,750 it could mean the price is going to rocket. Let’s wait and see, but I am feeling bullish on #BTC

Thanks for reading.

Spring is on the way!

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We are getting ever closer to spring here on the Isle of Man, the 21st of March can’t come soon enough. I am loving the fact that we are getting more lighter in the morning and afternoon’s. It makes such a difference to my body and mind.  Sunset tonight is at 17h39, this is so much better than the peak of winter when the sun sets at 15h50. It’s still cold with a maximum temperate of 7C but, we haven’t had a storm a few weeks.

My last post was on the 12 January, so I thought I better get some words down and not leave it for another month.

There has been lots of new happenings in the digital landscape. Organic reach is down on Facebook, we knew this was going to happen. One thing I found out last week is how Facebook measures organic reach and I’m sure not a lot of people know this! Organic reach is measured when your post is loaded into the newsfeed, so if a person doesn’t scroll down and see your post, Facebook still regards that as a view, rather sneaky on their behalf. Not to mention a video view is measured at only three seconds!

Instagram made a raft of changes to their algorithm in January and we are seeing the effects of this now. Your posts will only be seen by a maximum of 10% of people who follow you, but if it gets good engagement then it will be shown to more. Comment pods have been banned and users will be penalised if they are used.  If you are one of those people who adds your hashtags to the comments you will be penalised for doing this! The best organic reach is without a doubt on Instagram Stories, these can used is a very creative way, the magic happens in Stories!

Snapchat have not impressed their core user base with the new update.  They have tried to make amends by adding GIF stickers for Stories. Will it be enough? The petition set up to ask Snapchat to remove the update has been gaining a lot of traction with 1.2 million signatures.

“With the release of the new Snapchat update, many users have found that it has not made the app easier to use, but has in fact made many features more difficult,” the petition says.

I love this world I work in, not much stays the same for long. The ever evolving digital landscape!

Thanks for reading!