The British quiz obsession?

Quizzes- love them or hate them, are a huge part of our British culture. Even if they've never won a quiz, many people take part in pub quizzes regularly, often seeing it more as a social than playing to win each week (obviously a bonus though!) As well as all the pub quizzes out about, come all the television quiz shows that crowd our screens every evening. The number of different spins and twists they've managed to put on the general theme of answering questions and winning money is pretty impressive if you ask me, we've got pointless, the chase, ejector seat, university challenge, eggheads, the million pound drop, the weakest link and so many more, it seems Britain really does love the quizzes! Then on top of all the regulars, we get the big fat quiz of the year, which is basically a glorified pub quiz (with a few obvious differences, the fact that it's not in a pub and in a television studio for starters!)

So why do we like being questioned? Surely it reminds us of exams, interviews and tests?! Is it only the idea of winning that motivates us- would we take part in quizzes if there was no prize incentive?... I've got a feeling that many of us would. Maybe it's the challenge it provides, racking our brains for that fact we just know we know... somewhere far back in the memory bank.

With technology and social media has also come the unending stream of online quizzes, you can take a quiz to see which Simpsons character you are, what actor is your lover, what age you 'really' are and so many more... is the British quiz obsession getting a little out of hand?! Maybe we are better off sticking to the old fashioned pub quiz, then at least you get the social aspect and (hopefully) some questions that make sense and which you can actually answer! Why not head down to your local pub this week? Most pubs hold pub quizzes once a week or so, in Olney alone there are pub quizzes at the Two Brewers pub and the Cowpers Oak, just to name two! I might start truing and learning some random facts in preparation for the next pub quiz!...and the capital of Venezuela is...

timehop

If you're a bit of a techno-wizz on your smart phone you'll more than likely be aware of a new app sweeping across the screens. Taking a new twist on the social media revolution which we appear to be living in, this app takes us back in time, showing what we posted on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Foursquare on that day a year, 2 years, 3 years and so on, ago.

There's a few ways you can choose to look at this phenomenon, either...

1. We're living in the past too much... It feels a bit like the app has been created because someone out there knows that we all like browsing back through our photos and tweets and messages, and they want to arrange it better to date for us (cheers!)
2. It gives you a positive look back at how far you've come (hopefully!) over the years
3. Acts as a virtual time-capsule, especially good if you've got a bit of a bad memory
4. A way to daily enjoy memories of some of the important events which have taken place in your life (best if you don't over tweet, otherwise you may have to read your random ramblings about your washing machine or new running trainers, come on, we've all seen it!) 
5. and if you are one likely to over share on social media, then it can be a painful (and maybe helpful) reminder of how we spend too much time on social media...although saying that, timehop is a social media app in itself, so maybe there really is no escape!

What do you think? Is timehop a good or bad idea? I've just got it on my phone and I'm ashamed to say a little addicted... oh look I tweeted about being on a train 2 years ago... how exciting! (see what I mean?!)

The Phonebox Magazine- Online and interactive

Well, we're moving forward with some exciting new technology this month at the Phonebox magazine, you can now read the magazine online in an easy and interactive way! If you're a bit new to using the internet, a bit daunted by the idea of an interactive magazine or just want to know some of the shortcuts, have a read below and I'll talk you through how to work your way around!

First things first, click here to get to the latest issue of the Phonebox magazine, and you should see the same as the image below.

Once there you'll see there are a number of ways to navigate through the magazine, to flick through every page or to get directly to the page you're looking for.

The circled red areas in the picture above show a few of the basic navigation methods. On the far right is the most simple way of looking through the magazine, by simply clicking on the arrow and it will take you to the next page. Similarly, the arrows on the bottom right of the page do the same thing, with the double arrows taking you straight to the first and last pages if you click on them. Now for the clever bit- on the left you'll see the bookmark tab open (if not, click on the icon bottom left, circled above). This provides you with a list of all of the different articles featured in the magazine, and the option of scrolling through those titles. Click on any of these and you'll be taken directly to that feature!