Anna Tobin

Could rising at dawn make your more alert, energetic and focused for the rest of the day? Anna Tobin takes a look at this new wake-up call.
Before the advent of the electric light, our internal body clock – scientifically known as the circadian rhythm and area of our brains that responds to light – was set by the sun and the moon; we rose at dawn and went to bed at nightfall.
The advent of rolling TV and the Internet, emails pinging at all hours and twenty-four hour supermarkets, and even gym...

16.3 million people work in the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses, and they generate a turnover of £2 trillion per year – more than half of all private sector turnover. They don’t have the resources available to large companies and so face major challenges as a result of Brexit. Worryingly, surveys show that most of them have so far done nothing to prepare for Brexit. Today, with only around 50 working days left until Brexit Day on 29 March, they are starting to panic as they begin to recogni...

The British army reportedly employed Israeli anti-drone tech to finally put an end to the illegal drone operations that shut the U.K.'s second busiest airport London Gatwick for almost 36 hours in the lead up to the festive period. Drones circling the perimeter fence of the airport caused flights to be suspended from December 19 through to December 21, disrupting the travel plans of over 100,000 passengers.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense System's Drone Dome ...

Marketing is now a numbers game. As a performance marketer, you’re probably already comfortable calculating common metrics like CTR, CPA, and ROI. If you want to take your performance marketing to the next level, however, and show that you know how to win the game, you’ll need to start calculating another metric called CAC — short for customer acquisition cost.
The most important metric you can use is CAC. If you aren’t calculating it properly, your company will be in some serious trouble. Ju...

Wellness holidays are booming. Anna Tobin looks at what’s on offer and why you should definitely prescribe yourself one.
Historically holidays have always been linked to health. Sick and rundown people would be sent away to a spa town or the countryside because it was thought that the natural mineral springs and sea air would help them to get better.
Over the past Century, however, holidays became more about hedonism than health; a chance to over eat, over drink and soak up the sun’s dangerou...

New research confirms a well-known, hard-to-swallow fact: 75% of web users never go beyond the first page of search engine results. To get on that first page, let alone in the coveted top three spots, is a victory typically reserved for larger brands who publish many, long-form posts.
So what does this mean for the budding marketer?
It means that you’ve got a huge opportunity to ramp up your content distribution game beyond search and to get your articles in front of as many eyes as you can, ...

Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has made a breakthrough in the battle to cure motion sickness. The Tata Motors'-owned brand has pioneered a new technique that could reduce cases of motion sickness by at least 60%.
Drivers are less likely to suffer from motion sickness, but passengers are susceptible to it, so the move towards driverless cars has revved up the funding and interest in finding a cure for this unpleasant condition.
Using a variety of test vehicles and other Jaguar Land Rover f...

With the exception of live reality shows and major sporting events, mass audience appointment TV is an experience few of our children may remember. In a matter of years, streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have rapidly encroached on the space that traditional linear broadcasters have owned for decades. These streamers have taken eyeballs away from trusted local and national broadcast TV schedules, and it’s not purely due to the freedom offered by anytime, anywhere viewing. The...

The most delicious hot chocolate needs to be savoured. Your hands should feel its warmth as it seeps through the mug. Your nose must breathe in its rich cocoa aroma and your tastebuds will want to savour its smooth molten chocolatey deliciousness.
But not all hot chocolates are equal. Some are not worthy of this tasting ceremony.
We’ve rounded up some of the best hot chocolate drinks around. Only the creamiest tastiest cups of liquid heaven feature here. So that no one feels left out, we’ve i...

How do you find the ideal school for your child? In the state sector your choice may be limited by location but it is still worth going to see all your local schools, so you can prioritise the ones you would prefer. In the private or the state sector, you should be looking for the same signs when assessing a school.
Build your own opinion
The views of parents and children already at the school should not be discounted but it is important to judge every establishment yourself and think how it ...

There is so much to do on the tiny Indian Ocean island of Mauritius you’ll have to make time for your sun lounger
Conjure up a tropical island in your mind’s eye: icing-sugar-fine golden sands, bookended by azure waters and palm-tree-sprinkled land. Mauritius is all of this, but it has bonus dimensions: it is packed full of fantastic places to see and incredible activities to experience and it’s a foodie’s paradise. If you really want to experience the unique vibe, landscape and culture of th...

The British summer fruits industry is concerned that the Government is not doing enough to safeguard the supply of seasonal agricultural workers from the EU post-Brexit. Anna Tobin reports
New research from British Summer Fruits, the organisation that represents 95% of all UK-grown berry suppliers who supply UK supermarkets, reveals that three out of five growers (61%) say that they are already finding it harder to recruit seasonal workers. Two-thirds (63%) report a drop in applications for s...

It has been discovered that most Brits are failing to erase their memory cards before selling their old tech kit. A drive to increase tech recycling and the opportunity to make extra cash has meant that the second-hand tech recycling industry is booming and it's also awash with other people's data.
Research carried out by the cybersecurity team at the University of Hertfordshire discovered that two-thirds of second-hand memory cards left in mobile phones and tablets sold on the second-hand ma...

The FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 has seen record online viewing figures, thanks to advances in OTT technology and the burgeoning mobile media streaming market. International media ratings measurement service Conviva has revealed that during the first week of the World Cup, 393 million plays of matches were successfully streamed, the equivalent of 6.9 billion viewing minutes, via 59 million unique video streaming apps.
Streaming of Russia 2018 already eclipses the 2014 Rio World Cup
Cloud delive...

Until you become a dog owner, you have no idea how many different types of dog beds exist or that a dog bed can be quite a costly investment.
A long lasting dog bed will probably be the most expensive item you will have to buy for your mutt, this is because dogs by definition don’t pussy foot around. They are boisterous creatures. They are also often wet, muddy and smelly. Most moult and some like to chew, even when they are well out of puppyhood. The average pooch sleeps between twelve and f...