Author Profile

  • Philip Breek
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  • Posts: 6
  • About the user: My name is Philip Breek, I am 23 years old, come from the Netherlands and am currently following the New Media MA program at the UvA. I got my BA in New Media at the UvA last year and am now continuing my research through the MA program. I wrote my BA thesis on digital music distribution and hope to continue on this topic, however I might expand or rethink my research to also look at the creative industries and the impact of digital media and culture in a broader sense. Alongside my studies I am a music producer & DJ primarily focused on Dubstep, Electro and Next Level.

Author Archive

Blackberry: How my smartphone became a ‘dumbphone’

Philip Breek | 31 October 2011, 7:16 pm | tags: , , , , ,

I remember when I had my first mobile phone, a bulky Nokia with no color or internet or any of the fancy features today’s smart phones have. This phone always worked, the battery lasted an incredible amount of time and no matter how many times I dropped it I don’t ever remember having to reset the phone. Now I have…

TEDx Amsterdam: Interview with Marian Spier

Philip Breek | 31 October 2011, 4:05 pm | tags: , , ,

Many people are familiar with TED talks and the TED slogan, ‘ideas worth spreading’. It has gained immense success and so has led to independent TED events being organized under the title TEDx in which the ‘x’ stands for independently organized. These independent TED events have become so widespread across the globe that there are…

App Review: Wikitude

Philip Breek | 09 October 2011, 11:10 pm | tags: , , , , , ,
With the introduction of AR (augmented reality) software and its implementation into mobile devices there has been a considerable rise in apps that use such geo-location and AR features. One of these apps is ‘Wikitude‘ developed by the Austrian company ‘Wikitude GmbH‘ formerly ‘Mobilizy GmbH’. The ‘Wikitude’ app functions in a

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Social Network Analysis: Considering Alternative Methodologies

Philip Breek | 01 October 2011, 12:00 pm | tags: , , , , , , , , ,
The increasing extent of the Internet has also witnessed an incredible increase in the popularity of online social networking. Websites such as ‘Facebook‘ and ‘Twitter‘ are now the most frequently referred to examples although there are countless other social networking platforms that exist today. With a web phenomenon reaching such extremely large user

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Book review: ‘Designing Culture: the technological imagination at work’ by Anne Balsamo

Philip Breek | 19 September 2011, 12:00 pm | tags: , , , , , , , ,

In this book, ‘Designing culture: the technological imagination at work’, Anne Balsamo, Professor of interactive media at the University of Southern California, calls for a new approach to technological innovation arguing that culture must be taken into account when it comes to participating in any form of technological development and innovation. The ‘technological imagination’…

Re-evaluating the cultural industries

Philip Breek | 12 September 2011, 1:00 pm | 1 comment | tags: , , , , ,

With the rise of the Internet, ‘creative content’ has become an increasingly debated concept with regard to its nature, availability and legality. Within each of these respects severe changes have been seen which altogether have dealt a significant blow to global cultural industries. Whilst this has been thoroughly noted and observed by researchers tuned in to the ever-changing media landscape,…