Ready to up your Instagram game? Use Stories

You don’t have to be a business or a brand to use Instagram effectively.  But here are a few tips to catapult your Insta Stories to a whole new level.

First off, Stories are images (photos or 15-sec videos) that once posted ‘disappear’ from view on your account 24 hours later.  Of course, ‘disappear’ is relative.  Stories can be highlighted to keep them accessible to your followers.

You can add text, GIFS, filters, mentions, stickers and a myriad of other overlays to your photos and videos to increase interest in your content.  You can even draw or handwrite over your story post.
Instagram is always adding features to Stories to keep us interested and engaged.  Some of the best features include polls and share posts to Stories.

To get started with Stories, click on Your Story with the plus sign in the top left side of your Instagram app.  To get started quickly, just press the big circle.  To get deeper into the feature set, keep reading.

You can control many Story settings by clicking on the gear icon on the upper left corner.
At the bottom of the screen are several options, so many that you need to swipe left just to see the full menu of options available.

The first square in the lower left is our camera roll.  Tap here to see the last 24 hours worth of videos and photos on your device.  To the right of that square is a lightning bolt trapped in a  circle, these are your standard light/flash settings.  Hit up the two arrows to the right of the Record button to switch to/from selfie view.  Then feel free to add filters and effects by tapping the cute face with two plus marks icon.  This will launch a new menu with more options, enough to make your head spin.

Below all of that is another menu.  This menu includes Type for text-based posts, Live to ‘cast’ your content in real time, the ever popular Boomerang and additional features like Superzoom, Focus, Rewind and Handsfree.

Once you’ve created your original content, you can post to Your Story or just share with Close Friends.

Wait, we are not finished yet.  You can then swipe up for stickers, graphics, GIFs, sliders and polls.  Sliders and polls are a great way for your followers to interact with your posts in addition to liking and messaging, which are additional features.

Then, let’s not forget that you can share Instagram posts to your story.  You can share your own timeline posts or shout out to another Instagrammer by sharing their post to your account.  To do this, click on the paper aeroplane at the bottom of the post you wish to share.

Instagram archives your Stories by default, so you can always have access to them which is really helpful if you wish to highlight your post so that all your followers can view all time.  These highlights come up on circles just above your timeline photos.  Feel free to highlight individual stories and group stories into collections.

And imagine, all of this related to but one feature of Instagram - Stories.  Go forth and tell your story on IG.

Converting Cartoon Cash to Hard Currency

Musicians need to beware.  Animators may be Jamaica’s next big cultural export.

KingstOOn is the catalyst for a revolution.  Following the inaugural staging of the animation expo in 2013, UWI, UTech and even HEART joined Edna Manley in offering courses in animation in anticipation of the animation boom likely to impact Jamaica’s creative sector.

Potential Markets

Hon Julian Robinson, MP

Rhetoric aside, Jamaica is well poised to tap into the multi-billion dollar global animation market.  The country has strong relationships with the larger markets like the UK and Japan, and well suited to tap the largest market of them all, the USA.  “Because of our proximity to North America, we are seen as a good fit,” explained Former State Minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson, MP.

He explained that our proximity is not limited to geographic factors.  Jamaicans have a strong appreciation and understanding of North American culture.   Our population speaks the language (and in some cases the ‘twang’), we have a creative mass and have a strong education foundation.

The tertiary education community, recognizing the potential, has moved quickly to provide courses designed to harness the natural creativity of the population at various levels.  The Government backed HEART Trust NTA, the prestigious University of the West Indies and other notable institutions have followed the lead of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in introducing animation courses.

Market Opportunities

The immediate potential lies in the outsourcing of animation projects to local studios and freelancers.  This is a common practice.  “There are a number of studios who have gotten contracts to do the development of animation content,” Robinson further highlighted.  To put it simply, Disney may call up a Jamaican animator and say, “Hey, we have a sequence we need to you do as a piece of a big project.”  The Jamaican sits in his office in Kingston; animates the sequence based on the instructions given; and sends the clip via the internet for inclusion in the overall project.

"Cha-ching!”  Revenues flow directly into Jamaican coffers.

There is also tremendous potential for revenue from immigration.  In this scenario, locally trained (for less than their US counterparts) animators move to the US to work and repatriate funds to loved ones on the rock.

“Cha-ching!”  Revenues flow into Jamaica.

The most lucrative, but arguably hardest to achieve opportunity, is the export of local creative content from an influential culture recognized and copied all over the world.

“Cha-ching!” Revenues flow into Jamaica.

Market Catalyst

This is the climate in which the second staging of the KINGSTOON animation festival takes place.  The multitude of activities, screenings, workshops, lectures, presentations and booths fall within three tracks: Learn. Earn. Display.

Tech4Life airs every Wednesday morning at 8:15 on RJR94FM.

Mobile Wallet: Its All About the Trinity

You’ve heard the term mobile wallet, money money and mobile payments used interchangeably because they often refer to the same thing - ditching cash in favour to mobile phones for financial transactions.

Mobile wallet services are popular all around the world; from simple SMS based systems in Kenya, carrier supported systems in Haiti to advanced handset tied systems like Google Wallet and Apple Pay, cellphone based payment systems are gaining acceptance.

Locally, Conec is the first to market with a mobile wallet service with a range of features including bill payments and person to person payments.

Can these services be trusted?  Conec says yes!




Conec, a service of JUCCL, in partnership with global provider Mozido, combines a range of tools to offer a comprehensive security system.  The tools include:

• a guarantee that money will not be lost if the handset is lost or stolen, because the account information including account value, is stored in the cloud
• encrypted data stored in accordance to internationally accepted standards
• online access to account and funds, no handset required
• a trifecta of user based safeguards - a PIN, a personal password and a secret word to restrict access

Tech4Life airs every Wednesday morning at 8:15 AM on RJR94FM.

Ditch Your Wallet - Mobile Wallets Demystified

Cash (if you’re lucky), credit cards, loyalty cards, ID’s, discount cards and all manner of other plastic populate our purses and wallets.  For men, a wallet can be an annoying bulge; for women an impossible item to stuff in a clutch.

The promise of mobile wallets seek to remedy these issues.  But, is ditching your wallet practical?  Let’s dispel some myths about
mobile wallets.




Myth 1:  Mobile wallets are only for the first world.

While it is true that some options like Apple Pay and Google Wallet don’t work in Jamaica, there are a plethora of other options that are, or will be, available soon.

Myth 2:  You need a smartphone for a mobile wallet.

Again, there are options that rely on a smartphone running Android or iOS, but there are text, carrier and feature phone based options which don’t require a smart phone.

Myth 3:  You still need a credit card or bank account for a mobile wallet.

Nope, some mobile wallet options are for those without any kind of bank account at all.

Myth 4:  There are a limited number of access points for your mobile wallet.

That depends on what you consider ‘limited’ as the network of access points is growing daily.

Myth 5: If you loose your phone, you’ve lost your money.

Now this one is categorically untrue.  Mobile wallets don’t keep your money “in” the handset, so a lost phone doesn’t mean you’ve lost your money, or access to it.  Different providers have varied protocols, but all mobile wallet providers protect your hard earned cash if you device is lost or stolen, as mandated by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

RJR's Tech4Life airs on RJR94FM every Wednesday morning at 8:15 am

T4L: Low Tech Cleaning

Some tech threats are decidedly more low tech than others.  Germs, parasites, microbes and quick frankly plain old disgusting gunk, can accumulate on our devices.  Worse, because we are afraid to clean them, we sometimes leave these dregs to fester.

Well, no more!  Let us resolve to scrub away any crud that may have built up on our electronics.

All devices can be cleaned, just in different ways.  For example, monitors require a different approach than keyboard.  So let’s break them down by categories.  But first, let us gather the needed supplies.

Electronics Cleaning Supplies List

• Lint free Microfibre cloth (terrycloth texture)
• Cotton swabs
• Distilled, filtered or boiled water
• Vinegar
• Rubbing alcohol
• Compressed air or vacuum
• Elbow grease

Never apply liquids directly to electronics.  Never use paper towels.

Electronics Cleaning Dump List

• Windex and other solvents
• Disinfectant
• Paper towels and tissue paper

Monitors and LCD TVs
If your TV or computer monitors screen looks spotty, smudges, marks and dried saliva are the common culprits.  Rub them with a clean microfibre cloth and light elbow grease.  Be firm, but don’t press too hard or risk damaging the liquid crystals inside the screen.  Dampen - never wet - the cloth with diluted vinegar, to amplify the effects of the elbow grease as needed.

Phones, phablets, and other mobile devices
Since mobile device screens are made to be touched (for the most part), feel free to add more elbow grease for maximum cleaning power.  And, since  mobile device screens tend to touch our faces, feel free to replace the diluted vinegar with diluted rubbing alcohol to power punch gems to oblivion.

Keyboards, mice and other input devices
Input devices are generally quick hardy, after all, they were designed to handled.  They also tend to be a reservoir for spilt juices, coffee and other liquids (read as nesting ground for slime).  Feel free to pull these devices apart and attack with compressed air or a vacuum depending on your preference.  Next, hit them with cotton swabs dampened rubbing alcohol.  Then wipe them down using the microfibre cloth.  Then hit them with air again before reassembling.


Whether your motivation is aesthetic or antiseptic, a cleaning regimen is definitely rewarding.

T4L - New Age Protection

I am updating my being safe online tips.  After all, it is a new year and there are new threats out there.  What worked last year simply may not be enough for 2015.  So here goes; make some time to not only read but action these safety steps.

Step 1: Back up, run anti-virus, back up again
Do it now, do it again and again.  Only the first back up is hard, each subsequent back up is incremental and therefore doesn’t take much time.  Backing up is your first and best defense against data loss which can happen for more reasons than I have space to mention.  Many systems can automate the process to an external drive or cloud service, so your only excuse is .. none.

Make sure that you download, install, run and update a good anti-malware programme, even for your mobile device.  Get rid of or prevent viruses, adware, spyware and other wares designed to destroy your life.

Step 2: Set Strong Unique Passwords
Passwords can be a pain, but they are also your first line of defense against attacks.  Forget the old rules, passwords now need to be longer than eight characters, need not be a recognizable word and need to be unique for each account.  Yes, you read that right - each account.  Since remembering scores of complicated passwords would be too much, it is time to breakout a good password manager to keep things in check.

Step 3: Secure Everything
It can be tempting to jump on a free WiFi hotspot, skip the hassle of configuring a firewall or browsing quickly through unsecured websites, but try to remember how temptation worked out for Eve.

Take a moment to set up a new password on your home wireless router and all internet enabled devices like IP cameras.  Take a moment to set up a firewall on your ‘outer, turn off Discovery and disable file sharing, especially if you plan to log on to public WiFi.

Step 4: Avoid Scams
Certainly it is not recommended that you click on links in email, but if you do, make sure there is a little lock showing in your browser window confirming that the site is secure.

Speaking of security, secure your credit card by using a dedicated ‘online card’ issued by your bank, a one time/pre-paid card or a service like Paypal to create a safety zone around your prized plastic.

Online email services like Google, Yahoo! and Outlook all offer built in virus scanners to reduce the likelihood of nefarious downloads, but it is good to remain vigilant.

Step 5: Repeat
Yes, repeat.  Continuous protection requires continuos updating.

Here’s to a safe 2015!

Tech4Life airs every Wednesday @ 8:15am on RJR94FM

Making Moves

I made the move.  I am now with RJR94FM!

Each Wednesday Morning at 8:15 starting today, April 17, I will join the Jamaican Morning team of Alan Magnus and Paula Anne Porter on RJR94FM for a five-minute feature on technology for you.

Since the feature is for you, I’d like you to help us give the feature a name.  Let’s hear your most creative, engaging and appropriate name suggestions on Twitter using the hash tag #RJRtech.  We will pick a name from your suggestions and give you full credit on air.

In addition to bragging rights, one lucky winner will receive a House of Marley in ear headphone and RJR Branded Gear.  Listen to the radio commercial.

House Of Marley

We need your suggestions by Friday, April 19 at 5 PM.  Then, next Wednesday, at 8:15 am, tune in to YOUR SUGGESTION HERE for a breakdown of all things tech.  Want more?  Continue the conversation online:

Blog: carlettedeleon.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarletteDeLeon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlettedeleon
YouTube: youtube.com/ontheboom
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ontheboom/