Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best new stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…

1. UK urges G7 to tackle online cookie pop-ups

The UK’s information commissioner is to ask the G7 to join forces against cookie pop-ups online. Elizabeth Denham will meet with her counterparts in the G7 nations on Tuesday, when each country will raise a technology problem they believe can be solved with closer co-operation, with Denham taking aim at cookie banners.

Cookie pop-ups are an annoyance for internet users and businesses and disliked by privacy advocates, who believe so-called “dark patterns” trick people into accepting privacy invasions, rather than read through pages…

Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best new stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…

1. China limits kids’ online gaming to one hour

China’s video game regulator has said online gamers under 18 will only be allowed to play for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays. The National Press and Publication Administration said game-playing would be only allowed between 8pm to 9pm and told gaming companies to prevent children playing outside these times.

The move reflects a long-running concern about the impact of gaming on the young. A month ago, an article in the state-run media claimed many teenagers had become addicted to online gaming…

Zone delivery manager Charlie Booth gives tips and tricks on how to engage your audience …

Presentations are powerful and efficient methods of addressing an audience, from showcasing projects to winning sales deals. Developing high-calibre, engaging presentation skills is an essential part of the professional world.

Recently I presented ‘Impact and Presentation’ — a presentation about presenting, exploring tips and tricks to make you better presenters. I did this by sharing a blend of what I have learnt from my professional training in presenting and, more importantly, what I’ve learned from my experiences along the way. Here’s the full breakdown…

Preparation

…

Zone’s business design lead Amanda Forman shares her thoughts on ambient learning…

Whether it’s from our bosses or our parents, we have all experienced what I like to call ‘ambient learning’ — a form of picking up on things by observation (both passive and active). For example…

• The five-minute phone call to the client regarding that technical legal issue.
• The hallway conversation on the way to the meeting between senior leaders about how to present something in the right way.
• The way a person organises their day and treats the cleaning staff.
• The turn of phrase someone uses as you…

Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best new stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…

1. Twitter tests ‘misleading’ post report button

Twitter is introducing a way to report posts as “misleading” for the first time. Many of the large social media networks have been accused of not doing enough to fight the spread of disinformation during the Covid pandemic and US election campaigns. Until now Twitter’s reporting function has never offered a clear option for such posts.

Twitter said the new feature was only a test, and will only be available in a few countries (Australia, South Korea and the US) to begin with…

Our senior content designer Turi Henderson-Palmer, the founder of Zone’s Designers Book Club, explains how our colleagues’ love of design has blossomed across Cognizant Digital Experience…

Let me start by saying that ‘Designers Book Club’ is a misnomer — it’s not just books, and it’s not just for designers. It may have started that way, but it has blossomed into something much broader and more inclusive in recent months. As it should.

How it started

Zone’s internal Designers Book Club (not to be confused with Zone’s excellent Book Club series) began a few years ago as a way for Zoners to strengthen the…

Apprentices, we need you!

Zone’s apprenticeship scheme is back and bigger than ever before! We’re looking for our next set of future stars across multiple disciplines including tech, delivery and design. We’ll be hiring twelve new apprentices in September.

Check out our roles here:

Deadline 20th August
⭐️ Junior Frontend Developer: https://bit.ly/3xAVBHD

Deadline 27th August
⭐️ (NEW!) Junior Recruitment Apprentice: https://bit.ly/3iw9keo

⭐️ Delivery Coordinator Operations: https://bit.ly/2VxhACu

⭐️ Delivery Coordinator Projects: https://bit.ly/3AkyrqA

⭐️ Project Assistant Bristol: https://bit.ly/3xBz9hs

⭐️ Experience Design Apprentice (Bristol): https://bit.ly/3jFVEwG

⭐️ Experience Design Apprentice (London): https://bit.ly/3iw9keo

Hear from Zone’s first ever set of apprentices, who joined us last year…

“The apprenticeship allowed me to progress my career after college, massively improving my knowledge on coding and…

Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best new stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…

1. Hackers steal $600m in cryptocurrency heist

Hackers have stolen $600m in what is likely to be the largest cryptocurrency heist in its fairly short history. The huge amount of crypto was stolen from the protocol PolyNetwork, which is known for letting users swap crypto coins across a variety of blockchains. $33m of the bounty has been frozen but the attackers are still unknown.

One of the advantages of crypto is that it uses encryption whenever a transaction needs to be verified. But this doesn’t mean that any cryptocurrency is…