Meet Truecaller’s Ambassador- part 2

Today you’ll meet some more of Truecaller’s wonderful ambassadors!

See how you can stop spam with Truecaller!

Ability to block unwanted calls

Shady

Shady is from Cairo, Egypt and is studying computer and information science. He also currently works for an entertainment solutions company called Funlozia as a business development executive. In his spare time Shady is a Microsoft student partner and was previously a Google student ambassador.

Shady says that he is always active and likes to try new things and new activities including hanging out with friends playing sports like swimming, tennis and running.

‘One of my greatest achievements is that i made a partnership between Microsoft student partners and Truecaller’ – Shady

Shay’s favourite Truecaller feature is Caller ID, although it’s not yet implemented for windows phone, he says.

Vipul

Vipul lives in Ranchi, India, the same city which Indian Cricket Skipper MS Dhoni belongs to, Vipul proudly points out!

He is a 3rd year Mechanical engineering student, at BIT Mesra.  In his spare time Vipul enjoying learning about automobiles and gadgets, as well as playing cricket ,volleyball,photography, and lots of other things!

‘Hell yeah!!! I love photography, travel and photo editing, designing.’ – Vipul

Vipul considers his proudest moments to be completing his high-school exams, but thinks that he’ll feel even more proud when he completes his university studies!

Vipul does not underestimate the task at hand when promoting Truecaller in a country as large as India:

‘In India Truecaller has around 40 million users already, this seems to be a quite large figure but it is nothing in regard with 240 million internet users across the country! Now we need to target these people, the ones who know less about Truecaller or better to say internet, and people above the age group 30+. I will be spreading the words about Truecaller through my social media accounts.’

Vipul says that his favourite feature of Truecaller is the global directory and the ability to search for unknown numbers. ‘I don’t need to call back for every unknown miss call I received!’

Have you been inspired by the Truecaller ambassadors? Learn more about what they get up to in the Truecaller Ambassador blog!

Meet the Truecaller Ambassadors – Part 1

Truecaller, despite being based in Stockholm, Sweden has a truly diverse and global outlook. One way that Truecaller’s diversity is shown is through it’s ambassador program.

Learn more about Truecaller now!

This post will take a quick look at some of Truecaller’s current ambassador- who they are, what they do, and why they love Truecaller! You will also be able to meet more ambassadors in part two, that will be posted later this week!

Feras

Feras is one such ambassador. Feras is 31 years old and from Jordan but originally from Saudi Arabia. He is a computer engineer working as a Microsoft System Specialist in Messaging System (Microsoft Exchange) as an Enterprise administrator!

Feras says that his hobbies include spending time on the internet either browsing or reading , and keeping up-to-date with everything on social media. He also plays weekly a soccer game with my friends and loves going to the gym.

Feras says that his proudest moments can be divided into 3 parts: his study achievements, his work at Microsoft, and of course his family! He says ‘I am very proud of my parents , my brother and sisters who helped me and taught me how to reach my goals. I am also happy and proud of having a very lovely wife and my twin girls in my life.

Feras’ favourite Truecaller features is being able to discover an unknown caller ID using Truecaller. Feras does say however:

‘Unfortunately, I am an iPhone user, and the best feature on Truecaller app isn’t available on iPhone version ” Real time caller ID search”.

Juzer

Juzer Kaed is 21 is living in Colombo which is the capital of Sri Lanka. Juzer enjoys listening to music and playing cricket. Juzer studies BCS and is a Senior Marketing Manager at TAC which is a Advertising and Marketing company. Juzer is also a social media marketing expert!

Juzer thinks that one of the best ways to promote Truecaller is through word of mouth to promote brand awareness.

And his favourite feature? He says ‘No doubt Caller ID is the best!’

Bashir

Bashir Osman is a 26 year old computer software engineer and a tech entrepreneur. He says: ‘I love everything about the startup life, entrepreneurship, technology, hacking, coding and I can make a killer pasta dish!’

Bashir has an interesting background and has really experienced the world:

‘I’m originally Lebanese, but I was born in Montreal, Canada and spent almost 15 years there before eventually moving to Lebanon to learn more about my origin. After spending a while in Lebanon and completing my university degrees I left the country to work and am currently located in Doha, Qatar.’

Bashir currently works in a role as a network and security engineer in one of the data centers at Ooredoo in Doha, Qatar. He is also a consultant for BlackBerry and the Lebanese brand ambassador for Truecaller. Startups are also a big part of Bashir’s life as he describes: ‘I’m involved in almost half a dozen at the moment and always looking for the next big thing to be a part of.’

Bashir spends his spare time creating apps, spending time with his family and friends, working out, cooking and learning about photography.

When I asked Bashir what his greatest achievement was he said this, which I think is really inspiring!:

‘Everyday is a new achievement for me. Knowing that I woke up this morning with the ability to do something to make a difference to the world is something priceless and a lot of people take for granted.’

Bashir says that networking is the most important thing one can do to push the Truecaller message out. He likes to connect with people and use these relationships to build trust and help people get to know Truecaller.

Bashir says that his favourite feature is to see who has been looking at this number- he says its a great way to see who might be interested in contacting you.

Have you been inspired by Truecaller ambassadors? Learn more about Truecaller ambassadors today!

Stockholm’s Start-ups: a quick guide

If you have any sort of interest in tech or even just like to download and use apps or other tech products, you’ve probably heard the term ‘start-up’ being thrown around. But what is a start-up company? Where can we find them? Are there any success stories?

Here’s a quick guide to the world of start-up:

What does start-up actually mean?

According to Wikipedia a start-up ‘is a company, a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets.’

Where can I find start-ups?

You can find start-ups all over the world- where’s there’s a big city there’s normally a start-up or two. One city that has become a start-up hotspot is Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is home to dozens of start-ups.

Why Stockholm?

Well, there are many theories as to why there are so many start-ups in Stockholm. Some reasons include: that the education in Sweden is good with many attending university as it is free. This has led to many university graduates being ‘tech literate’ and therefore have the skills required to set up their own start-up. Another reason is that Sweden is in general a country that has a lot of innovation: think Volvo, Ericsson and IKEA. Swedes consider themselves as early adopters and therefore there are many who what to innovate. A final reason is that Sweden has a very global outlook. Most Swedes speak English fluently and enjoy travel. This has meant that Sweden has never been afraid to embrace the new and connect with the rest of the world in an increasingly global world.

Any start-up success stories?

There are plenty, but one example in particular is Truecaller. Truecaller was founded in 2009 and is based in Stockholm. Truecaller is a really good example of a successful start-up because it is the world’s largest verified mobile phone community. Truecaller is available on the web and as an app for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian S60, Series 40, and Windows Phone.The app has a huge user base an is particularly popular in countries such as India. Truecaller has an awesome community feel within its user-base and those who use the app really love it.

You can read the whole Truecaller story here, and maybe find inspiration to turns your ideas into a successful start-up!

App Review: Truecaller

One great thing about my iPhone is that I can manually block numbers that I don’t want contacting me. However, a few months ago I found that I was getting a lot of spam calls that were interrupting my life. I wanted to solve this annoying problem by finding a pro-active tool that blocked the numbers before I could answer them.

One day I stumbled upon a potential answer, in the form of an app called Truecaller. After using the app for some weeks I am sharing my review of the app!

What is Truecaller?

Truecaller is an app that lets you find phone numbers, connect with people and keep your phonebook up up-to-date.

Me on Truecaller!

5 Best things

• Block spam calls – ability to block all known spam numbers in the area and report any ones you receive
• Caller ID – Truecaller can always let you know who is calling you and from where in the world
• Organize your phonebook – ability to keep your phonebook updated
• Search numbers – don’t know who called you? Truecaller has a huge directory of numbers, including mobile numbers so you can find out who called you
• Find people you know – ability to connect with people in your network so you never need to fuss around with exchanging numbers again!

Ability to block unwanted calls

Ideas and improvements

I think the thing that I would like to see would be that more people used the app in Sweden! Although I like to tell my friends about this useful app, most haven’t heard of it. To use Truecaller to its full potential it is useful to have a lot of people you know using the app too. But I’m sure this is something that more and more people will be using in the future!

Keeping your phonebook nice and tidy is easy!

The bottom line

Truecaller is a really useful little app that works like a phonebook… but better. The app works really well and I can 100% recommend the app as a staple for anyone with a mobile phone!

A premium version of the app is also avalible that offers a number of extras.

Truecaller is available online via truecaller.com and on your mobile. I use Truecaller on my iPhone and downloaded it via the app store.

Have you used Truecaller? I’d love to know your thoughts and experiences below. Let me know what you like and what could be improved.

You can also connect with my via Twitter: @EmmaCullenblog to share your thoughts!

 

Having a body-positive attitude towards exercise

If you’re not slim and you workout people presume one of two things:

1. You’re lying

2. You’re exercising to lose weight

This is the reaction I get when I tell people that I rockclimb/cycle/run etc. Most people presume that I’m halfway through some sort of weight-loss regime because although I’m quite fit, I’m technically ‘over-weight’ and deliciously wobbly all over.

But actually, I enjoy working out and doing sports. I spend time several times a week doing these things for fun and to see what my body can do in terms of distance or strength.

This hasn’t always been the case. I’ve spent most of my teenage years  and adult years trying to exercise with the sole purpose of losing some weight. Needless to sat things never worked out and I’ve been the same size since I was 16.

At the start of 2014 I promised myself to stop this nonsense because I could see how damaging this attitude was. I decided to take up running and rock climbing with the intention to see what I could do and what I could train my body to do. I set goals that focused on distances and other challenges, not onces that evolved around weightloss.

Seven months on and I’m still doing it. I ran my first 5k in May and I’m making progress with climbing. I’m fitter than ever and my attitude towards myself (although not 100% positive all the time) is a lot better.

I’ve managed to stop looking at airbrushed models who have ‘perfect’ bodies and thinking ‘I want to look like that’. No, I now watch shows like Boundless (yes, I know) and see people completing treks and races through jungles and mountains and think, ‘I want to be able to do that!’

Cien med Aloe Vera face cream

One thing that makes me sad about living in Sweden is the price of cosmetics and everyday beauty products. I always go on about this, I know, but it is heartbreaking. Often the price of beauty products in Sweden can be up to double the price of what they cost to buy in the UK. For example, I’ve seen bottles of shampoo that you can buy for £1 in a pound shop or supermarket sold for £3.50 in a Swedish supermarket!

The expense of these everyday products had lead me to either: order stuff online from Korea, or stock up when i’m in the UK. So, when I ran out of face cream the other day I didn’t really fancy spending £10+ for a ‘cheap’ product that would make me break out in spots.

I was pretty happy to find a Cien aloe vera face cream for senstive skin for 39SEK (£3.50 ish) in my No.1 budget supermarket Lidl. 

Cien is Lidl’s own brand of beauty products. Yeah, I was skeptical too. But after trying out their hair products and a facial cleanser I was really impressed and so I didn’t really hesitate to try this cream.

The cream is made with 55% aloe vera. The other 45% is a long list of chemicals and other stuff such as cocoa seed butter. This product certainly isn’t natural, but it isn’t trying to sell itsef as that. The cream advertises itself almost as a medical type cream (presumably because it is aimed at those with sensitive skin).

The cream is green, of course and smell like aloe vera. It absorbs easily and is light. The cream felt a little sticky on first application, however this resolved itself after a fews seconds of absorbing itself into the skin. The product isn’t as light as many products designed for oliy skin, but it was light enough not to worsen my oliy/acne skin. 

Overal I like this product. It was good value for the price, it smells nice and it soothes the skin after using harsh anti-acne products on my face. It’s only downside is that it doesn’t have the same quailty feel as other ‘medical’ beauty products such as Eucerin, which is my normal go to for this type of product.

I do suggest that you check out Lidl’s Cien range because it is a very good budget range!

June round-up

A wet and cold midsummer in Stockholm!

Okay, so there’s still a good few days left to go in June, but I thought I’d do a round-up today because a lot has been happening!

June has been, overall, a nice month. I started off the month by graduating from university for the (probably) last time. Yup, I’m now Emma Cullen LLB (hons) MA LLM (as if I’m ever going to use those titles… I’m not that much of a snob). I am pretty proud though. I completed my masters in law and passed with a distinction. This has been a really big deal for me because I always struggled when I studied law at undergrad, but I seemed to flourish during the last year. It’s nice to prove the ‘you-must-get-a-2.1-degree-in-order-to-suceed’ patrol wrong.

June has also been spent seeing a lot of family both on mine and my partners’ side. This included a trip to the UK to see my family and my niece being baptized by my Dad, which was pretty special. I’ve also had time to visit friends in Stockholm over the big Swedish holiday of Midsummer, and had visitors too. It’s been a pretty sociable month.

The big news of the month is that we bought an apartment in the south of Stockholm. Buying the apartment has been the LEAST stressful experience of my life! We did a lot of research online into areas and apartments before we did any viewings. We viewed two apartments and fell in love with one of them, so we bought it. The process of buying property in Sweden is very quick; it took a week to buy the place and we can move in next month!

But of course, with the good, there is always some bad, namely some illness in the family and my fruitless job search. I did in fact have an interview for a job a couple of weeks ago, but the employer never even bothered to get back to me after the interview (despite me trying to call and follow up the interview) which has really dampened my mood. The only thing to do is continue the search. I know that I am a good candidate for a wide variety of jobs, and the only thing that is really standing in my way is that I am not a native Swedish speaker.

Last year June and July were holiday months, however, this year we have no holidays planned, namely because we put aside the time to search for somewhere to live (which we did a lot quicker than expected). This week Mr. Dalahorsey is in Prague on a ‘lads holiday’ so I’m home alone all week. The urge to travel has been strong, but I don’t really have the cash to do it right now so I haven’t planned anything. I think I will have a week of self-care and organization at home.

Moving on into July, I think it will be a busy month. I have some family visiting, going to visit some family in West Sweden and of course we are moving house. I’m also studying Chinese over the summer and have lessons twice a week. AND I am training for a 10Km race in September, so I will be spending a lot of time preparing for that!

I hope your month has been great and that you have an even better July. And a big shout out to everyone who isn’t travelling this summer!

Emma x

Glossybox First look: May 2014 (Sweden)

After seeing a lot written about Glossybox by bloggers and magazines alike, I thought I would give the monthly beauty box a try.

At 139Kr a month I thought it would be a nice thing to do; I spend that much on coffee a week, so I’m cutting down on takeaway coffee!

This is the Glossybox from Sweden, I understand there are differences between each country!

The box comes nicely packaged with a little magazine, lots of discount vouchers and a little card explaining the products and how much they are worth.

Each box contains 5 different products (although this one contains 6! There are two of the same product in two different colours).

Here are the products contained in this month’s Glossybox (from left to right):

1. BE YOUR MOOD, Colour Boost – Two small bottles of hair mask to help boost the colour of your dyed hair. It comes with chocolate-brown and silver blonde. The idea is that you keep one and you give a friend an other. My hair is neither of these colours, but somewhere in between, so it will be interesting to try them out. (full size 200ml, 59Kr)

2. HAWAIIAN TROPIC, Silk Hydration Lotion, SPF 15 – This is a really tasty smelling mini bottle of body lotion that has a low SPF. It smells good, very fruity and summery, and I think the little bottle will come in handy if I’m travelling or out and about. The SPF is a little low for my liking though. (full size 180ml, 119Kr)

3. FLORMAR, Long Wearing Lipgloss – This is apparently a best-selling lipgloss, I’ve never heard of the brand though. I’m not a huge fan of really glossy lipglosses, and this appears to be a hight-gloss one. But the colour is bright enough and summery, so I will give it a try! (value, 79kr)

4. PANOS EMPORIO, Deospray ‘Coco Sun’ – This spray smells so good. It is fresh with coconuts and it reminds me of summer holidays. It comes in a perfect travel size too! (full size 50ml, 149Kr)

5. HUMBLE BRUSH, Bambu-tandborste- This is really sad, but I think this is my fave product from the box so far! The brush itself looks really trendy and stylish, made from bamboo with purple bamboo bristles. I also like that the company gives a toothbrush to people who need them throughout the world (dental hygiene is important for all, right?!) and the bamboo is ethically sourced, AND it is biodegradable, unlike your average toothbrush. I’m not sure if I would normally buy this type of toothbrush as it is a little pricey (yeah, I normally buy the cheapest brush I can find!!) but I might be converted! (value 34kr)

 

Overall first thoughts:

I am really happy overall. I received products that I would have never bought myself, but I would use ( I was worried I would get a load of weird products like chin firming cream or something).

I am really pleased too that the company has taken into account that summer is (nearly) here and that customers would probably like to have summery products.

I also feel that I have got my money’s worth.

Over the next few days I will do a post giving short reviews of each of the products, so keep an eye out!

Love, Emma