New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Terahertz Femtophotography: Bringing you the ancient world’s latest news

Earlier this week, reports started trickling through the web about a camera developed by the Camera Culture Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sure, a camera coming out of a MIT lab sounds interesting, but how can it...

By Harry Sullivan on 09/22/16 Comments Off

Artificial Intelligence: an objective method for measuring beauty?

Last August, a team of biogerontologists and data scientists, organised the First International Beauty Contest Judged by Artificial Intelligence ever: Beauty.AI (Beauty.AI). With the support of major (tech)companies, like EY, NVidia and Microsoft, a team of scientist developed various...

By Pieter Vliegenthart on 09/22/16 Comments Off

When cats are also bots.

Meet Mica. Cat content works. It’s one of the unofficial laws under which the internet operates. Cat content is funny and lifts you up. And now cat content informs you. How? Let me tell you about “Mica the Hipster...

By Marlene Scherf on 09/22/16 Comments Off

Chatbots: We’re Only Just Getting Started

It has been nearly six months since Facebook launched the Messenger Platform at F8 conference, but its main feature, namely chatbots, still continues to remain a hot topic in the tech industry. What Is All That Hype About? Truth...

By Olga Resetnaka on 09/21/16 Comments Off

Share a Dream: A new way to connect people ?

Today more than ever, we are constantly connected and reachable. It has never been so easy to communicate with people around the globe. We can also observe new kinds of social relationships due to technology. In fact, connections between...

By Arnaud Muller on 09/21/16 1

Internet Moon Gallery: Art Moves into a Virtual Platform

How would you feel about visiting an art exhibition on the Moon? Internet Moon Gallery is a 3D virtual place created by Manuel Minch that aims to exhibit art using the wifi on the Moon. On May 2016, The...

By Zeynep Yavuz on 09/21/16 Comments Off

Decapitation? Here’s a wise old lady who knows better

Changing the minds of IS-fighters-to-be while they are searching for IS-related material on YouTube sounds like a contradiction, but Google found a subtle way to do so. This month, Google’s think-tank Jigsaw is launching an unconventional project called the...

By Odiel vandeNobelen on 09/21/16 Comments Off

Racial Profiling and Police Brutality: Can Safety Apps Keep Justice within Reach?

Racial Profiling and Police Brutality: Can Safety Apps Keep Justice within Reach? In this digital society, it is almost unthinkable to leave the house without a mobile phone. Apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are perfect for everyday...

By Alfrida Martis on 09/21/16 Comments Off

#CopyPaste – The battle between Instagram and Snapchat

There is a battle going on between Instagram and Snapchat.. but who is on the winning hand? A-team Instagram is a mobile phone photo-sharing, video-sharing and social network service. It enables users to take pictures and videos and...

By Arabella Memdouh on 09/21/16 Comments Off

Recognition: looking through a mediated lens

“Can a machine make us look afresh at great art through the lens of today’s world?” (Tate). This is a question art institution Tate Britain poses about their online program Recognition, launched two weeks ago. This program uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)...

By Rianne Riemens on 09/21/16 Comments Off

This is for your “real friends”

Tired of having to deal with that many people on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and what more? Enter Camarilla, it’s a social media app that will allow you to have up to fifteen connections. You might think “Only fifteen?! That’s not...

By Steven Gielen on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Advertiser-friendly vs. Youtuber-friendly: who does YouTube really care about?

In the Internet age, while some companies choose to be LGBT-friendly, eco-friendly or even vegan-friendly, YouTube is openly advertiser-friendly. The de facto standard video-hosting website of the western world has become a staple of our modern society – an...

By Pija Indriunaite on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Activism via social media is only a digital graffiti?

Recently it has become an online trend to be socially active and involved in public issues. This kind of activism is thriving: like if you care. Immediately there are hundreds/thousands/million likes and comments under a post that suggests supporting...

By Lina Ku_inskaite on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Surveillance through a new way of payment

A couple of days ago I lost my debit card. At first I thought it was fine because I do not need to use it that often, but after some hours I already noticed that it is quite inconvenient...

By Lisa Kloostra on 09/20/16 Comments Off

Clinton’s campaign app – play for presidency

Traditional campaigning is not enough anymore – politicians need to follow technological trends. Fittingly, the Hillary Clinton campaign developed its own app for the upcoming US presidential elections. Launched this July, “Hillary 2016” lets users compete challenges in their personalized...

By Vincent Buss on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Prisma: The Photo App With Its Own Charisma!

All the Instagram addicts must have already tried out or, at least, come across with artsy photos badged with the #prisma hashtag. For those of you who (strangely enough) haven’t seen or heard of it before, Prisma is...

By Christina Panteli on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Can Google Search Solve the Most Topical Issue in Fashion Right Now?

There’s one thing that most of us have in common: We all Google. So when the tech giant decides to break into the Fashion Industry, it seems to be providing an alluring set of qualities that deserve our attention....

By Talía Cu on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Gboard: The Ultimate iPhone Keyboard?

Google recently released a new app for iOS called Gboard which expands the keyboard with a built in search engine. With Gboard Google makes it possible to search without a browser. Instead of leaving the app you’re currently using...

By Maud Looij on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Tesla’s Autopilot Function in the Light of Liability and Assistance

One of the newest tools, that not only the multinational car companies but also companies like Google and Apple are assumed to work on, is the introduction of the self-driving car. Telsa has recently introduced a Tesla car with...

By Michel Blonk on 09/19/16 Comments Off

YouTube: From Video Sharing to Building a Community

What? Where? When? For some, YouTube is just a video sharing platform, but for others (such as PewDiePie, JennaMarbles, or Zoella – only to mention some of the famous YouTubers) it is actually a job. However, in order to...

By Bianca Andreea Banu on 09/19/16 Comments Off

Medical applications, the brilliant health-care helper?

More and more Medical apps for smartphone and tablet users have been released in recent years. These applications transform traditional medical services into mobile and digital services which people can evaluate themselves with the apps and do not need...

By Christine Cheng on 09/19/16 Comments Off