Filter posts by:
The Death of the Meme: Article 13 and what this means for the internet

The Death of the Meme: Article 13 and what this means for the internet

On the 12th of September 2018, the European Parliament voted on a version of an EU copyright directive, namely the The European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Two articles are currently stirring up controversy, one...
Who controls your voice controlled world?

Who controls your voice controlled world?

One of the latest trends in the tech world is the development of the smart digital voice assistant. It was first popularized by iPhone’s Siri, and now companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are developing software and hardware technology...
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...
Introducing Toosheh: The new mesh network application that tries to tackle the problem of information controls inside Iran

Introducing Toosheh: The new mesh network application that tries to tackle the problem of information controls inside Iran

Branded as a little blue bundle, the new android application developed by the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California is a slight play on words. Toosheh which in Persian means baggage, endeavours to connect Iranian’s through what...
Spread the Word: Fund Clean Oceans

Spread the Word: Fund Clean Oceans

96 days ago, a crowdfunding project started and was widely spread through Facebook, Linked-In and other social media. It all started with the 17-year old Boyan who had a plan. A plan to do something about the plastic pollution...
MOOCs – A driver for innovation in teaching?

MOOCs – A driver for innovation in teaching?

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) – free and open online courses offered by worldwide leading Universities have attracted much attention (one might even say social panic) amongst higher education (HE) circles and beyond since their rising popularity in 2012. For many here there was not only aseemingly radically...

Connectivity: friend or foe?

According to a news item, Facebook is willing to spend billions on connecting the world to the internet. This might come as a surprise since Facebook isn’t an internetprovider but a social media platform, but will be one of...
#VemPraRua

#VemPraRua

How the use of Social Media platforms can mobilize a whole nation and transform the history of a country “Vem pra rua, porque a rua é a maior arquibancada do Brasil” The sentence above was extracted from the song...
The Internet is now built on mass surveillance

The Internet is now built on mass surveillance

Brought to light in recent months, the Edward Snowden-powered NSA leaks have publicized the wholesale spying efforts by US and UK intelligence agencies that undermine the very fabric of the Internet – turning it into a vast surveillance program...
From Disabilities to New Abilities

From Disabilities to New Abilities

Have you ever thought about how visually impaired or hearing-impaired follow TV shows? Since television is taken for granted a long time ago, we usually ignore the fact that, for some, watching television can be indeed hard. Following TV...
Social network is aging. What’s next?

Social network is aging. What’s next?

We’re hopelessly addicted to social platforms as if it would be still revolutionary in our lives but is anyone thinking about it to be aging? People start getting bored with social networks because it does change in the way...
Give me cash, I will give you love

Give me cash, I will give you love

Today online dating isn’t such a big deal anymore; men and women from al ages and different backgrounds use the Internet weekly in the hope to form and maintain a romantic relationship. The reason why the Internet gained popularity...
Have we forgotten, WE are the internet

Have we forgotten, WE are the internet

The internet beast “What technology wants”, a tellingly title of the most recent book by Kevin Kelly. As if technology is an autonomous living being possessing an own will. Although Kelly is more nuanced than this (for a book...
WikiLeaks or We Keep Leaks?

WikiLeaks or We Keep Leaks?

On the 17th of June in 1972, 5 men got caught while attempting to infiltrate the democratic headquarters located at the Watergate hotel in Washington. Their objective was the placement of electronic listening devices to monitor the meeting hosted...

Marcelo Somers: Advertising works when it can scale

The Syndicate is a new breed of an ad network. Among its members are Khoi Vinh, former NYTimes.com design director, Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper, and Horace Dediu, mobile computing analyst.
The Cyber Cafe Is Dead. Long Live The Cyber Cafe!

The Cyber Cafe Is Dead. Long Live The Cyber Cafe!

In the Western world, cyber cafes are nearing the point of total extinction, but less protected as say, pandas. However, many seem to find a new lease on life in the various developing – soon to take over Total...
2012: An Offline Year for Bram van Montfoort

2012: An Offline Year for Bram van Montfoort

Bram van Montfoort (’87) is an online man. He once started with a dial-up internet connection and egg timer to keep track of ‘online’-time, nowadays Bram is equipped with iPad, PC and mobile phone and can be followed on...
An interview with Jerom Fischer

An interview with Jerom Fischer

Some say this is the best time for artist and creative entrepreneurs. Others think the creative industries are coming to an end thanks to the negative impact of the Internet on industries like the music industry. Since I’m interested...
What happens to your online data when you die?

What happens to your online data when you die?

Not that you'd care, but it’s messy.

Book Review: The Net Delusion by Evgeny Morozov

In his book ‘The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World’ Belarusian-born writer Evgeny Morozov finely describes and critiques a delusion he calls cyber-utopianism: the believe that online communication technologies have the power to liberate, democratize. Many people...
Book Review: ‘Cyber War’ by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake

Book Review: ‘Cyber War’ by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake

Richard A. Clarke has worked for the U.S. government for 30 years. In the White House he served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W.H. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Under Clinton and W. Bush, he worked as National...
Book Review: The new rules of the game

Book Review: The new rules of the game

Note: this is a review on a Dutch book called De nieuwe regels van het spel. This book is not available in English. Visit the RMO website for more information. In this advisory report, the Dutch Counsil for Social...

The like button: Something mutual, nothing too personal

An interview with an average net user about the role of the virtual in her life.
War is Over?

War is Over?

As a professional journalist and newbie blogger I had never thought about a question whether online news sites and citizen journalists are undermining journalistic profession until I was assigned to write an essay on this issue as part of...