Latest news with #Stephen
Dublin Live
a day ago
- Health
- Dublin Live
Dublin mum-of-two in critical condition after hitting head during family holiday
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A fundraiser has been launched to support a mum-of-two from north Dublin who is in a critical condition in hospital after collapsing and hitting her head while on a family holiday. Emma Hickey, from Kilbarrack in Dublin 5, had recently travelled with her husband Stephen and their two children to Tenerife to enjoy "a well-deserved family holiday and break from the day-to-day". However, soon after arriving in the popular holiday hotspot, the dream trip abroad "turned into every family's worst nightmare" when Emma suffered a serious head injury which has left her in a coma in hospital. According to Emma's friends, the mum-of-two was bitten by a mosquito "which lead to a worsening infection" and caused the Dublin native to collapse and hit her head on a tiled pavement on Sunday. Emma sustained a serious head injury in the fall and was rushed to hospital, where she remains in an induced coma. The young mum faces a "long, uncertain, and incredibly challenging" road to recovery and her friends have rallied around her and launched a GoFundMe page to help support the family during this difficult time. The fundraiser was set up by Emma's friend Karen Whelan, who wrote on the GoFundMe page: "Our beautiful Emma is critically ill in Tenerife. What was meant to be a well-deserved family holiday and break from the day-to-day, has turned into every family's worse nightmare. "Mosquito bites lead to a worsening infection, which caused Emma to collapse and hit her head on the tiled pavement. The fall resulted in a serious head injury and she remains in an induced coma. The medical team have confirmed that her recovery will be long, uncertain, and incredibly challenging. "We, Emma's family and friends would ask for your help to support Emma's partner Stephen who is self employed, and their kids Sophie and Bobby, as they stay by Emma's side in Tenerife to provide some relief in the day to day expenses so they can focus on the long road of recovery in front of them. Anything you can contribute will make a difference. Even sharing the page and keeping Emma in your thoughts will help the family at this time." The GoFundMe page has raised over €27,500 less than 24 hours after being launched, with Dublin football club Ayrfield United FC, for whom Emma's husband Stephen serves as first team coach, urging locals to support the fundraiser. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Emma Hickey as she endures a very difficult time after a bad fall in Tenerife on Sunday," they wrote in a message shared on social media. "Emma is the partner of Stephen Brougham, our First Team Coach. Emma's friends have set up a GoFundMe to help with costs for the family during this difficult time. If anyone is in a position to help Emma, Steo, Sophie and Bobby, please donate via the link below. Any help is greatly appreciated." If you are interested in making a donation, you can visit the GoFundMe page here for more information. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irish mum critically ill after hitting her head in fall during family holiday
A fundraiser has been launched to support a mum-of-two from north Dublin who is in a critical condition in hospital after collapsing and hitting her head while on a family holiday. Emma Hickey, from Kilbarrack in Dublin 5, had recently travelled with her husband Stephen and their two children to Tenerife to enjoy "a well-deserved family holiday and break from the day-to-day". However, soon after arriving in the popular holiday hotspot, the dream trip abroad "turned into every family's worst nightmare" when Emma suffered a serious head injury which has left her in a coma in hospital. According to Emma's friends, the mum-of-two was bitten by a mosquito "which lead to a worsening infection" and caused the Dublin native to collapse and hit her head on a tiled pavement on Sunday. Emma sustained a serious head injury in the fall and was rushed to hospital, where she remains in an induced coma. The young mum faces a "long, uncertain, and incredibly challenging" road to recovery and her friends have rallied around her and launched a GoFundMe page to help support the family during this difficult time. The fundraiser was set up by Emma's friend Karen Whelan, who wrote on the GoFundMe page: "Our beautiful Emma is critically ill in Tenerife. What was meant to be a well-deserved family holiday and break from the day-to-day, has turned into every family's worse nightmare. "Mosquito bites lead to a worsening infection, which caused Emma to collapse and hit her head on the tiled pavement. The fall resulted in a serious head injury and she remains in an induced coma. The medical team have confirmed that her recovery will be long, uncertain, and incredibly challenging. "We, Emma's family and friends would ask for your help to support Emma's partner Stephen who is self employed, and their kids Sophie and Bobby, as they stay by Emma's side in Tenerife to provide some relief in the day to day expenses so they can focus on the long road of recovery in front of them. "Anything you can contribute will make a difference. Even sharing the page and keeping Emma in your thoughts will help the family at this time." The GoFundMe page has raised over €27,500 less than 24 hours after being launched, with Dublin football club Ayrfield United FC, for whom Emma's husband Stephen serves as first team coach, urging locals to support the fundraiser. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Emma Hickey as she endures a very difficult time after a bad fall in Tenerife on Sunday," they wrote in a message shared on social media. "Emma is the partner of Stephen Brougham, our First Team Coach. Emma's friends have set up a Go Fund Me to help with costs for the family during this difficult time. If anyone is in a position to help Emma, Steo, Sophie and Bobby, please donate via the link below. Any help is greatly appreciated." If you are interested in making a donation, you can visit the GoFundMe page here for more information.
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
The DSP-Agnostic Approach That Gives AI Digital an Edge in Fragmented Media Buying
The digital advertising ecosystem has become fragmented. Major platforms like Google, Meta, and Amazon have built what industry insiders call "walled gardens", closed ecosystems where advertisers must play by the platform's rules, often with limited transparency into how their campaigns perform. AI Digital 's response was to develop an "Open Garden" philosophy, a DSP-agnostic approach (demand-side platform) that allows advertisers to work across multiple platforms while maintaining central coordination. This neutrality is rare in an industry where many service providers are incentivized to push specific platforms. "We designed our model to be agile and partnership-friendly," says Magli, CEO. "There are no rigid commitments, no minimum spend or lock-in periods, so teams can scale with us at their own pace." This flexibility has proven particularly valuable for small and medium-sized agencies that previously could not access premium programmatic inventory due to budget constraints. Human Intelligence, Enhanced by AI As artificial intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword across industries, AI Digital's approach is unique for its emphasis on human expertise. With over 300 digital media professionals, including planners, optimizers, and strategists, the company iterates that technology should complement rather than replace human judgment. Its slogan, "Built on human intelligence, enhanced by AI," Is the outlook. It is a stand that distinguishes it in a market where many competitors promote full automation as the ultimate goal. The company's newest offering, the Elevate platform, launched in April 2025, symbolizes this balanced approach. Elevate provides AI-powered media planning that can generate complete campaign blueprints in as little as 30 seconds based on inputs like budget, target audience, geography, and campaign goals. Beyond Traditional Metrics One of AI Digital 's most significant deviations from industry norms is its focus on business outcomes rather than traditional advertising metrics. "Besides the traditional metrics like CPMs, impressions, CPCs, we provide business outcomes. For example, how the campaign affected your revenue," explains Stephen. This switch from measuring impressions and clicks to tracking actual business impact represents a maturation in how digital advertising effectiveness is evaluated. By connecting advertising spend directly to revenue generation, AI Digital helps clients justify their marketing investments to finance departments and C-suite executives who care more about bottom-line results than awareness metrics. The Smart Supply Advantage For enterprise clients with in-house marketing teams, AI Digital offers a service called Smart Supply, a highly optimized premium traffic for targeted campaigns. "We provide these audiences to you in an ID format, in a code format. If you insert it within your campaign manager, it shows to them," Stephen explains. "We do not have any access to their campaign managers. We do not change anything, but we optimize the traffic on an ongoing basis." This approach allows large agencies to maintain control of their campaigns while benefiting from AI Digital's expertise in audience targeting—a crucial capability as third-party cookies phase out and targeting becomes more challenging. Growing Against the Odds AI Digital has established a niche in the industry. The company has expanded from approximately 100 employees in 2024 to over 300 today, with offices worldwide, though it remains primarily remote-first with headquarters in Miami. April 2025 marked two significant milestones: the launch of the Elevate platform and the opening of the company's first Canadian office in Montréal, focusing particularly on the unique Québec market. This growth comes despite, or perhaps because of, increasing challenges in the digital advertising landscape. As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies disappear, advertisers need partners who can navigate these changes while still delivering results. The Transparency Imperative Perhaps the most consistent theme across AI Digital's offerings is transparency, which shows clients exactly how their advertising dollars are spent and what results they generate. This transparency extends to the company's use of artificial intelligence. While many AI systems operate as "black boxes," making decisions that even their creators cannot fully explain, AI Digital has prioritized explainability in its Elevate platform. The system provides clear rationales for its recommendations, projecting how changes might improve campaign performance. For example, rather than simply suggesting a budget reallocation, Elevate might explain that shifting 20 percent of spend from one channel to another could increase conversion rates by an estimated 15 percent. This approach addresses what AI Digital calls "the biggest blind spot in advertising today", the fact that advertisers increasingly depend on AI-driven systems they don't understand.
Wales Online
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Sir Stephen Fry wants to create a TV drama series where people communicate without technology
Sir Stephen Fry wants to create a TV drama series where people communicate without technology The 67-year-old actor and broadcaster's idea is for emails and social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, to be seen as the "uncoolest thing" (Image: PA ) Sir Stephen Fry wants to create a TV drama series where people return to communicating in an "unplugged life". The 67-year-old actor and broadcaster's idea is for emails and social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, to be seen as the "uncoolest thing", and that a pupil would ask his teacher how to hand in an essay because he does not have a computer and, therefore, cannot submit it via an email. Chatting to entrepreneur John Reynolds on a recent episode of the Extraordinary Life podcast, Stephen revealed: "I was going to write a TV series about it, in which this kid comes to a school and completely changes the school." As the pupil does not communicate by using electronics, his cohort thinks the youngster is odd. The Celebrity Traitors star continued: "And anyway, they all stare at this kid, 'Who is this ridiculous child?'" Eventually, the pupil motivated the tech-savvy children to communicate in the old-fashioned way, and they enjoyed it. Article continues below Stephen added: "He starts basically influencing everybody. They think this is actually quite a fun way to live. It's really enjoyable. "And I think it just takes that, it would just be a little - the balance would just shift." Stephen regularly posted on X, when it was known as Twitter, until 2022 - a few months before Elon Musk purchased the platform. He has kept his account but is not active on it - just like on other social media platforms. And Stephen thinks social media sites have made the world a far worse place. He explained: "We come to a tipping point now, where the uncoolest thing in the world is Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok. "And they are just boring. And we know they're harmful, but they're also vapid and shallow." The Jeopardy! host said the "coolest" schoolchildren would be those who are not glued to a screen. He said: "But what incredible fun if you were 15 to live an off-grid life, and unplugged life, using all these fabulous old tools. Article continues below "You would be the coolest people in the school." Stephen initially thought social media "could change the world" in a good way. He said during his Digital Futures Institute lecture at King's College London in 2024: "I'm the chump who thought social media could change the world."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sir Stephen Fry wants to create a TV drama series where people communicate without technology
Sir Stephen Fry wants to create a TV drama series where people return to communicating in an "unplugged life". The 67-year-old actor and broadcaster's idea is for emails and social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, to be seen as the "uncoolest thing", and that a pupil would ask his teacher how to hand in an essay because he does not have a computer and, therefore, cannot submit it via an email. Chatting to entrepreneur John Reynolds on a recent episode of the Extraordinary Life podcast, Stephen revealed: "I was going to write a TV series about it, in which this kid comes to a school and completely changes the school." As the pupil does not communicate by using electronics, his cohort thinks the youngster is odd. The Celebrity Traitors star continued: "And anyway, they all stare at this kid, 'Who is this ridiculous child?'" Eventually, the pupil motivated the tech-savvy children to communicate in the old-fashioned way, and they enjoyed it. Stephen added: "He starts basically influencing everybody. They think this is actually quite a fun way to live. It's really enjoyable. "And I think it just takes that, it would just be a little - the balance would just shift." Stephen regularly posted on X, when it was known as Twitter, until 2022 - a few months before Elon Musk purchased the platform. He has kept his account but is not active on it - just like on other social media platforms. And Stephen thinks social media sites have made the world a far worse place. He explained: "We come to a tipping point now, where the uncoolest thing in the world is Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok. "And they are just boring. And we know they're harmful, but they're also vapid and shallow." The Jeopardy! host said the "coolest" schoolchildren would be those who are not glued to a screen. He said: "But what incredible fun if you were 15 to live an off-grid life, and unplugged life, using all these fabulous old tools. "You would be the coolest people in the school." Stephen initially thought social media "could change the world" in a good way. He said during his Digital Futures Institute lecture at King's College London in 2024: "I'm the chump who thought social media could change the world."
