Filter posts by:
Do Not Track: together let’s track Big Brother

Do Not Track: together let’s track Big Brother

After four years of negotiations, an agreement was reached on September the 8th over data protection on the internet between the United States and the European Union. Many privacy violations scandals later (i.e.: Edward Snowden’s revelations on the NSA’s...
Augmented reality; Pokémon in the real world

Augmented reality; Pokémon in the real world

After 20 years, The Pokémon Company announced the release of its latest project. A new mobile game called Pokémon Go, produced in collaboration with Nintendo and Niantic. The game will be available in 2016 for iOs and Android. For...
Spotify the Data Sage.

Spotify the Data Sage.

Is Discover Weekly a step forward or a step back? In the good ol’ days people discovered music by listening to the radio and recording the music on audio tapes. The disk jockeys were the opinion leaders that could...
Facebook’s new virtual assistant ‘M’: mastermind or menace?

Facebook’s new virtual assistant ‘M’: mastermind or menace?

Facebook recently introduced the world to ‘M’, its brand new virtual assistant that will reside in Facebook’s messaging app. Will, because for now, the new application is still in its test phase. Nonetheless, this rather unexpected move of Facebook...
Computers can now paint – Reproduction of famous artists’ work

Computers can now paint – Reproduction of famous artists’ work

The last four hundred years have been crucial in human history as major changes were analyzed. During these years, the evolution of human kind grew exponentially with the help of increased communication and increased mastery over nature (Wiener). Our...
Oculus Rift: the next big leap towards virtual reality

Oculus Rift: the next big leap towards virtual reality

In August 2012, the company Oculus VR set up a Kickstarter project to encourage the development of a revolutionary technological device, capable of plunging users into an immersive virtual reality. The Kickstarter rose to see $2.4M invested by 9’500...

“Buy buttons”: Is this the new shopping mecca?

If you just rewind back to the past, freeze your memory in the ‘90s and try to recall the retail websites of this era, it will be obvious how boring and indifferent purchases could be. But it was time...
I need some Beer & Chips! Can you get me some? – The new way of personal assistance and how it impacts our society

I need some Beer & Chips! Can you get me some? – The new way of personal assistance and how it impacts our society

On the 26th of August the Vice President of Messaging products at Facebook, David Marcus, announced on his personal Facebook Page that Facebook is beginning to test a new service within the Facebook Messenger called “M”. With that post...
G is for Google, F is for friendly and I is for innocent

G is for Google, F is for friendly and I is for innocent

The 11th of August this year Google announced a big change; Google from now on will be part of a new parent company Alphabet which will cover all of Google’s activities. For some this might be a surprising move as Google...

The Survival of the Shopping-Malls

Imagine a project developer, Mrs. Smith, who is developing a shopping-mall with her team. Mrs. Smith wants to attract future customers (and storeowners) by offering them a personalized and comfortable shopping experience. First of all she wants to achieve...
Here, kitty kitty: Interactive Cat Street View Map

Here, kitty kitty: Interactive Cat Street View Map

Cats are everywhere. They are on the streets, in our houses, our social media feeds, in magazines and Purrcast, YouTube videos, festivals and even on clothing. If you haven’t noticed, cats are a very popular part of internet culture...
Beme: Will Authenticity Form New Aesthetics?

Beme: Will Authenticity Form New Aesthetics?

Everyday I get on Casey Neistat’s YouTube channel to watch his daily vlogs. Last week he announced that Beme codes are no longer necessarily to use the app. Before that Beme was only available on invite only basis. It...
The Pencil is a Problem.

The Pencil is a Problem.

  In a special launch event last Wednesday Apple unveiled with great fanfare a host of new products, a highlight of which was the Apple Pencil. Meant as an accessory to the hulking new iPad Pro, its introductory video is...
The Involuntary Preservation of Media Heritage Through Irony and Nostalgia

The Involuntary Preservation of Media Heritage Through Irony and Nostalgia

As a 90s child, I often find myself fondly remembering the sound of the iMac G3 booting up or how emphatic the local video rental clerk was about rewinding video tapes before returning them. Recently, while keeping an eye...
Digital Modularity: The Roland System-1M

Digital Modularity: The Roland System-1M

In the past year synthesizer manufacturers Moog and Korg have released re-issues of their famous analog synthesizer models of the past. Just as many other companies that reacted to the nostalgia surge of the past 15 years, so did...
Semantic Search Servants: Facebook’s M and the new way of searching the web

Semantic Search Servants: Facebook’s M and the new way of searching the web

“You think I’m weird?” “Kind of.” “Why?” “Well, you seem like a person but you’re just a voice in a computer.” – Theodore meets his new virtual assistant, whom he later falls in love with (Jonze, Her). Facebook M...
UHD Format is Coming

UHD Format is Coming

  The Seven Kingdoms Seven of the biggest IT companies are collaborating to createa new format for Ultra High Definition (UHD) video.This collaboration is called Alliance for Open Media and includes companies such as Google, Netflix and Microsoft. There’s also...
Anti-social apps: counterattacking the power of networks

Anti-social apps: counterattacking the power of networks

We judge ourselves with the means other people have and have given us for judging ourselves. Into whatever I say about myself someone else’s judgement always enters. (Jean-Paul Sartre) In 2013, Scott Garner, an artist based in New York,...
The Companion: App which walks you home

The Companion: App which walks you home

Walking home at night can be a pretty terrifying experience. If you ever had to walk home through eerie suburban streets at 2 am., you know how it feels. That is why five college students in the US created an application...
“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking <i>live</i> to the next level

“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking live to the next level

In The Truman Show, Truman has no idea he is being watched 24/7, until the sun comes crushing down – literally, because the sun turned out to be a studio lamp. In Edtv, Ed knows and agrees to being...
Live Photo: the new “modern magic” of Apple’s iPhone 6

Live Photo: the new “modern magic” of Apple’s iPhone 6

During a special media event organized on September 9th, in San Francisco, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, officially introduced to the public the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus. Alongside with user friendly updates...
KEEP CALM and USE COMPANION APP?!

KEEP CALM and USE COMPANION APP?!

An innovative app that accompanies you with safety back home. Five students from the University of Michigan designed a GPS application, named Companion App. This new app allows your contacts from your smartphone to accompany you virtually when you...
YouTube | It’s gone 360º

YouTube | It’s gone 360º

  YouTube – Home to viral sensations, talking cats, Charlie’s finger and not to mention irritating music videos – with some holding over two billion views! From its launch in May 2005, YouTube has developed, changed and re-formatted over...
Artificial intelligence for everyone: indico.io

Artificial intelligence for everyone: indico.io

Image: Still from Amazon Machine Learning introduction video Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed alongside with computing since its earliest days. Today when thinking about AI the famous Kasparov beating chess computer Deep Blue, smartphone personal assistants like Siri or the...