Japan has a reputation for being at the forefront of modern recycling but soon there will be collection points popping up across the country to encourage people to hand in their old handsets for the Olympic effort and do their bit to reduce the amount of waste in ever-growing landfills.
According to TechRadar, 9.6kg of gold, 1210kg of silver and 700kg of copper was used to make the medals for the London 2012 Games. Considering that in 2014 Japan threw away 143kg of gold, 15666kg of silver and 1112 of copper in electronics it makes so much sense to recycle all these useful resources.
Personally, I am guilty of always buying the latest gadgets without thinking too hard about what happens the old ones and I know I’m not the only one. I actually have two old phones and an iPod that I no longer use that I intend to recycle using mobile recycling company. If I was in Japan I would definitely consider handing them over so they can be transformed into one of the 5,000 medals required.
The International Olympic Committee, mindful of the amount of resources it requires to host the Olympic Games, has a strict set of rules to promote environmental sustainability. But maybe we should be thinking about the amount of disregarded resources we have in our own homes every day, rather than just for major global events.
If you can make an Olympic medal, something that is meant to last a lifetime, in such a responsible way, what else can be made from recycled tech? There are endless possibilities from durable kitchenware to sports equipment. The silver from the inside of your iPhone could be repurposed for X-rays – there are so many uses.
Maybe we should be more like Japan when it comes to recycling. This Japanese bar,  is completely decorated with old cables and it looks incredible – even if it does make you feel like you’re inside a lung. Do our general, cultural attitudes towards recycling need to be upgraded?

By Doug Hunter

It is Valentine’s day, so I thought I would give you my two cents, or whatever that is when converted to Bitcoin.
Over the last few years I have tried the occasional dating app, from Once, Tinder, Bumble and Happn to some further reaching ones like Coffee Meets Bagel, Rendeevoo and now, HATER!
Hater is different because it doesn’t really care about whether you like something, it’s all about finding like minded people who also hate the things you hate too.
I thought the concept was hilarious when I read about it on Mashable. People at Dimoso know too well that I like to have a rant, sometimes it’s about Brexit, Trump, May and other selected influencers at the top of the pile, or sometimes it’s about words like “BAE” and “YOLO”, so it would seem that this is the perfect app for me….

I have so far this morning expressed an opinion on:

• Drinking water
• Picking scabs
• Pickup artists
• Snapchat
• The New York Times
• Cookies with raisins
• Hard mattresses
• YOLO

And so much more ….

Which is when it dawned on me, this app is entertaining, there is something great about meeting up with someone for a drink and initially discussing the things we don’t like, rather than the things we do, why not?, there is so much to whinge about in this day and age…
BUT
It is potentially one of the cleverest tools for marketers I have come across since the playable advert…
Within seconds of signing up for Hater with my Facebook account the data mining begins, they have my age, sex, location… I can only speculate, but they could potentially be gaining hundreds of micro opinions from me. A standard online survey would have bored me by now, but this is entertaining and fast and unless you work in this world or are conscious because you have seen too many documentaries on Edward Snowden, you might not realise the value of data to the highest bidder.
Interesting that the creators didn’t put “data mining disguised as a dating app” as one of the cards… they might have, but I haven’t come across it yet. I am however, hooked, so it is only a matter of time till something along those lines comes up.
Haters gunna hate!
I couldn’t write this blog without also mentioning another pioneering dating app that is doing the rounds right now, Shinder has been created by Shed Simove and is a swipe of genius, it won’t last long but someone had to go there. It is basically Tinder, but he is the only man available on the app. Read into that as you wish.