It’s fair to say Twitter / X has been rocked by many, many changes since Elon Musk bought and took it over, but one of the rumours currently circulating the mill is that Musk is thinking about charging for access.
This got us thinking, what will the gays do if X starts to charge?
We put that question to our followers and it looks as though there could be a mass exodus from the platform if a paywall were to be installed.
We asked the question: If X starts charging for usage will you… and we offered two answers, Pay up and Leave. So far as of publishing the overwhelming majority (currently over 90%) of our followers chose the Leave option.
So if X / Twitter starts charging for usage, will you
Dig deep into your Facebook tagged photos and find a nice when in the sun with a cocktail and a decent backdrop. If you’re stuck for choice, perhaps do what every other Grindr user does and take a selfie in the mirror of your local gym changing room. That way, at least everyone knows you keep fit.
Don’t…immediately send a dick pic
Striking up a conversation via a picture of your penis is like Victoria Beckham singing – sin against nature. Sending a blurry photo of your willy is not going to make anyone think “Let’s go Prezzo”. If you, for whatever reason, have an urgent need to send one, do it after at least a day of conversation and, as with your profile picture, make sure it is the best it could be. I’m talking about the right angle and the right filter – no one wants a photo with dodgy lighting.
Do…be grammatically correct.
“Hello, how are you?” sounds far better than “hey, u alrite?” so make sure to use your best grammar when trying to secure a date or even a bit of fun. No one is going to be enticed to have sex with you when you chat like a 14-year-old on MSN.
Don’t…slate gays in your bio.
“I like my men to be men”; “straight acting guys only; “if I can’t see your eyebrows then I don’t want to see you”. When devising your bio, try not to come across as a wanker. Some gay men decide to be their own enemy and it doesn’t exactly scream, “date me”.
Do…talk about safer sex.
Let’s be honest – most gay dating apps amount to anonymous sex with someone you’ve never met before and don’t really know much about except for the size of their penis so, let’s be clear, condoms, PrEP and regular testing if you’re sexually active are absolutely essential…
This article was first published in August 2015 and has been updated.
To celebrate it’s birthday Instagram has installed a secret easter egg on its app, where you can change the app’s logo on your home screen to a different logo, including a Pride inspired one.
Instagram was first launched in October 2010 and since its birth has become a major social media platform, now owned by Facebook.
So how do you chnage the Instagram logo?
Since the launch of Instagram the company has had a number of different logos including the famous brown and beige Insta camera – before ending on the current orange to purple gradient logo.
By finding the secret easter egg in the app you can change the’s logo on your home screen from 12 different choices, including a prelaunch “codename” logo. But one of the logos Instagram has chosen to provide is called “pride” and features the Philadelphia flag colours (that’s the flag which contains the black and brown stripe)
So to get the different logo follow these steps
From the opening screen inside the app find the settings button (location may differ on different operating systems) and click on it.
Then with your finger scroll upwards (away from all the links like Notifications, Privacy etc)
Keep scrolling and eventually your screen will reveals some emojis – scroll a little further and your screen will be filled with confetti and the logo options will open up!
LGBT+ criticism
Recently Instagram has faced criticism over its policy of deleting, without the possibility of appeal or review photographs of LGBT+ content, particularly of the male body.
The platform did reinstate the pictures and issued an apology directly to The Naked Rugby Players, but has since deleted, without appeal or review, at least two more of the pictures from the account and once again issued its threat to delete the account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG0scRRlmLa/
Fans of the calendar called Instagram a “shambles” and the policy “discriminatory”.
Ah new emoji day, it’s never not controversial as emoji designers add new graphics and look to increase diversity and inclusion in those little pictures we all take for granted.
At one time every emoji that depicted a human was yellow. Families were depicted as one man, one woman and one child. Firefighters were male and nurses were female. It was just a sea of yellow, now however most people emojis have multiple choices because only The Simpsons are yellow in real life.
In the latest update to the world of emojis, dozens of new pictures have been added to the Android 11.0 set, including one with a man wearing a white veil, holding a small bunch of flowers.
Mixed reaction
The review from social media users was a mix of derision and confusion it’s fair to say.
One person asked, “How do I downgrade to version 10”
Another added, “Oh the gays will have a field day with this one”
While others were celebrating the rise of the femboy. Femboy started off as a derogatory term for effeminate guys in the 1990s however it has become more widely accepted as a positive term which rails against toxic masculinity, according to Urban Dictionary.
Going online to find love is probably one of the easiest ways to find and meet new people, there are so many choices of dating apps, so which one do you choose?
Where do you start when looking for a dating app. There are so many options, especially at the Google Play store. The best way to find the best app is to see what the app’s users are actually saying about it, but it’s a faff to search out the top 10, so we’ve dug around to find out what people about gay dating apps.
Don’t always assume that the biggest brands in gay hookups are the best. Probably the most famous, Grindr, isn’t rated highly by its users – in fact, it ends at number 15 on our list. It does, however, have over 400,000 ratings, it dwarfs all the other apps.
The next most rated app is Hornet with 183,000 reviews. The best-rated on our list, Surge, has sub 60,771 ratings.
So it’s best to do a bit reading between the lines and decide how much weight you want to give the number of ratings compared to the average star rating.
We’ve compiled this rank list of the best-rated apps on the Google store for the Android operating system.
I’ve been using a pair of Jabra 65t earbuds for a while now and they have become pretty invaluable. Going out without them feels as bad as leaving your phone at home.
Aesthetically, the Elite 65t is a pretty compact pair of earbuds and are well shaped to sit, largely, flush with your ears. They are supplied with 3 pairs of ear gels, I use the largest. They fit snugly and have never fallen out or even come loose while I’ve been using them. The 65t’s are comfortable and light and actually, you don’t even notice you are wearing them.
I think that’s the beauty of these earbuds. They are so convenient, so easy to use, they become essential.
You can of course use the Jabra 65t as a handsfree kit. Jabra’ four-microphone technology seems to be effective in reducing wind noise. There are perforations on the body of the buds with mics inside to supply ambient sound. The amount of ambient sound can be controlled by the app and we’ll come to that in a minute.
The Jabra Sound+ app is the perfect companion to your Jabra earbuds and allows you to customise your sound so your music and calls experience always suits your surroundings. Through the app, you can personalise your experience by customising the way your sound is delivered. You can choose your preferred voice assistant from Amazon Alexa, Siri® or Google Assistant™. I use the Google Assistant installed on my phone to keep things simple.
Sound quality is very good. There is a deep warm sound which was a pleasant surprise. Earbuds are so small, it is often difficult to get enough bass due to the size of the speakers. In this case, the speakers are 6mm for example. However, the sound quality is excellent for earbuds.
The Jabra Elite 65t earbuds and charging case are made entirely out of plastic. I have used some with a metal case that tend to feel a bit more premium, but these headphones still feel like a premium product and the case is very practical, durable and fun. The lid is a bit of a pain at first, hard to open. You quickly discover that the lid has a cool, spring-loaded hinge that needs to be pushed back, then flipped up.
The earbuds sit neatly inside and an LED signifies they have made connection and are charging.
Battery life is great at up to 5 hours. Perfect for long drives or a boring meeting. The case provides a further 2 full charges. That’s a serious amount of battery life. The case is charged via a micro USB.
Controlling the music and playback is simple. Fingertip controls give you easy access to core functions. On the right earbud, you can control: play/pause music, answer/end call, reject call double-press the button when you receive an incoming call, voice assistant. on the left earbud, you can control: volume up/volume down, next track, previous track.
When you crack open the case and remove the buds, they turn on automatically. Wireless performance is excellent and you can connect more than one device which is a great feature. I have two phones so this works well for me.
Through the app, you can control a range of functions from updating the software, customising the sound through the inbuilt equaliser, modify your call settings by adjusting how much of your own voice you want to experience on a call for a natural, comfortable sound and adjusting the amount of ambient sound you let in.
You can also select from a range of presets for situations like commuting, relaxing, and others, although the 65t’s can sense if you are stationary, moving, in a quiet place and more, and it will select the correct preset for that situation. Oh, there’s also a handy ‘find my Jabra’ function in case you lose them too.
If I had to criticise, I would say the case doesn’t feel as premium as other earbuds I’ve used but is tough and durable. The earbuds themselves are smooth and on occasion, I have almost dropped them.
Other than that, they’re great. I use them every day and always have them in my pocket.
A new report has shown that dating apps are thirsty… and not just in a Chris Pine thirst kinda way.
The online comparison site, Uswitch analysed 50 of the most popular apps of all major app stores, taking into account the permissions they allow and how many each app has access to, constantly draining the energy from your phone.
The results revealed that gay favourite Grindr is the most draining dating app, using 28 permissions in total including location, photos and identity.
Now that social distancing has been encouraged to delay Coronavirus, this has resulted in a spike in online dating app activity. As more find themselves caught indoors, many are relying on digital to ignite romantic and social conversations, here’s a guide to the apps to use to limit your usage (and the ones you will need your charger for) as you look for love.
What Uswitch found was that Grindr asked for way more permissions (28) that other dating apps including, Bumble (20), Tinder (18) and Hinge (13).
But if you’re looking for the most permission seeking apps – and therefore most battery-intensive, look no further than Google (72), Facebook (50) and Facebook Messenger (46).
Based on the permissions they require, Google, Facebook and WhatsApp are the biggest drains on our batteries.
Facebook amongst others in the top 10, runs constantly on our mobile phones in the background and is accessing over 50 permissions including; contacts, location and media.
It might appear that Amazon’s Alexa is listening more than we realise. The Alexa app requests 39 permissions on our mobile phones ranging from location, camera and photos/media even when it’s not running.
Uber also makes the top 10 with 35 battery-draining permissions constantly accessing our location causing your battery to die faster than others. Waze is one of the most raved about map applications but is found to be more draining than Google maps.
Other apps such as Tik Tok, Mcdonalds, Grindr and Snapchat all make the top 20 list which can be found here.
Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com advises on how to preserve your mobile phone battery, “It’s estimated that over 5 billion people in the world now own a mobile phone, it’s our main form of communication and for some people even a method of payment.
It can cause issues when you’re caught out with a drained battery. There are a few simple ways to preserve your mobile phone’s battery life, such as turning off WiFi/Bluetooth and making the most of low power modes.
If all else fails, remember to put a portable charger in your bag on long journeys”.
Netflix hits like Sex Education and Stranger Things could be causing damage to the environment with millions of tonnes of Carbon Dioxide being released into our atmosphere, a study has found.
Netflix and other streaming platforms have become the main source of TV viewing for millions of us across the UK, but new research shows that the habit might not be that eco-friendly.
For an individual to stream video content, it has to travel through a complex network (i.e. cables, routers, data centres etc.) that runs on vast sums of electricity. This electricity in turn generates carbon dioxide (CO2) – which can leave a devastating impact on the environment.
Interested in the carbon footprint from streaming, energy comparison site SaveonEnergy utilised official viewership figures to discover what watching Netflix’s top original movies and shows is equivalent to in terms of miles driven by a car, and the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted.
Series like AJ and The Queen use a lot of power, both in their creation and their supply to our homes.
Save on Energy found that the energy generated from Netflix users’ total 80 million views of the thriller Birdbox is the equivalent of driving more than 146 million miles and emitting over 66 million kg of CO2.
To put that into context, the
equivalent of driving from London
(United Kingdom) to Istanbul
(Turkey) and back 38,879 times.
The energy produced from 73 million streams of Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery translates to driving over 104 million miles and emitting more than 47 million kg of CO2.
Since taking a return flight from London (United Kingdom) to Los Angeles (United States) creates 1,650 kg of CO2 per person – this means an individual needs to fly 28,610 times from London to Los Angeles and back to produce the same amount of CO2 amassed by every Netflix user who has watched Murder Mystery.
And binging on your favourite series?
Save on Energy discovered that the energy accumulated from the 64 million streams of Stranger Things season three is comparable to driving more than 420 million miles and emitting over 186 million kg of CO2.
This is effectively driving from
Marrakech (Morocco) to Cape
Town (South Africa) and back
12,771 times.
Subsequently, the energy garnered from 45 million views of the Umbrella Academy season one, translates to driving more than 164 million miles and emitting over 364 million kg of CO2.
Flying from London to Perth and back produces 3,153 kg of CO2 per person – this means an individual would need to fly 115,657 times from London (United Kingdom) to Perth (Australia) and back to produce the same amount of CO2 generated from those who have watched Umbrella Academy season one.
Save on Energy discovered that the energy accumulated from the 64 million streams of ‘Stranger Things’ season three is comparable to driving more than 420 million miles and emitting over 189 million kg of CO2.
This is effectively driving from
Marrakech (Morocco) to Cape
Town (South Africa) and back
28,391 times.
Subsequently, the energy garnered from 45 million views of the ‘Umbrella Academy’ season one, translates to driving more than 364 million miles and emitting over 164 million kg of CO2.
Flying from London to Perth and back produces 3,153 kg of CO2 per person – this means an individual
would need to fly 52,046 times from London (United Kingdom) to Perth (Australia) and back to
produce the same amount of CO2 generated from those who have watched ‘Umbrella Academy
season one’.
Flying from London to Perth and back produces 3,153 kg of CO2 per person – this means an individual would need to fly 115,657 times from London (United Kingdom) to Perth (Australia) and back to produce the same amount of CO2 generated from those who have watched Umbrella Academy season one.
“This includes the energy use of companies we work with such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, and the power required to support the servers we install with internet providers.
“We don’t control this energy footprint, so we’re not able to address its efficiency directly ourselves. But we do account for the emissions by matching them with regional renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets.
“This indirect energy use was about 357,000 megawatt-hours in 2019.
*This article was updated to reflect the correct miles and C02 emissions.
The world’s busiest gay hook up app, Grindr, is about to sell up and the asking price is a lot.
Reuters is reporting that the current owners of Grindr, Beijing Kunlun Tech will be selling off the app immediately and the price tag is reported to be around $600 million.
That’s quite the mark up over what it paid for the app just a few short years ago.
The CFIUS ruled that the treasure trove of data held by Grindr would be a concern for the national security of the United States so it effectively forced the sale of the company. The ruling from the Committee on Foreign Investment also ordered that the firm cannot share any data harvested from the app.
The ID of the buyer is said to be San Vicente Acquisition LLC who will have a mound of data on around 4.5 million users.
According to Reuters, the CFIUS will need to approve the latest deal.
Well, now you can do that with Grindr. Instead of using your phone and zapping up all that valuable battery power, you can log onto Grindr’s chat website using your computer – all you need to do is log on to web.grindr.com/mail.
How do you log into Grindr’s Website?
You’ll need to open the app on your phone and open up Grindr on your desktop computer. On your phone, go to settings (by clicking on your profile and clicking on to the settings options) You’ll see an option saying, “Log in to Grindr web”.
You’ll then have to scan the QR code, with your phone, shown on your desktop screen and voila, Grindr will link your phone and your computer.
Once linked, you’ll be able to see all your previous messages, respond to them, check profiles and basically use Grindr as you normally would.
It will require access to your location in order to use the GPS function.
In-office view, no one will be able to tell that you’re using Grindr to check for messages as it looks just like a normal webmail service.
There’s also a work/ office view – which means that no one can see that you’re actually on Grindr.
The picture-sharing platform, Instagram, has allowed numerous stars, like Lizzo and Kim Kardashian to upload completely nude pictures while gay porn stars and LGBT+ body-positive organisations have their pictures removed and accounts cancelled.
There seems to be one rule for some and another for everyone else. Over the years we’ve reported countless times where Instagram and Facebook (which owns Instagram) have deleted, cancelled or suspended pictures and people it deems to break its community guidelines.
However, in the latest show of its double standards, between some famous women (such as Kim Kardashian) and LGBT+ folx, Instagram has allowed nude pictures, taken by singer Lizzo to remain on its service.
The pictures which were uploaded on the 1st of December have garnered over 1 million likes on the social media platform with thousands and thousands of comments.
Instagram recently came under fire after it deleted a picture featuring a wet – but (semi) clothed Jason Derulo, with a peen outline. He was wearing underwear… no nudity at all.
Earlier this year porn star Brent Everett hit out at Instagram after it removed a picture of him in the nude and a report that we ran on the removal of said picture had THEGAYUK’s official Facebook page’s moderators banned from the platform for 30 days.
