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Big tech goes to war over Augmented reality (AR) dominance

Big tech goes to war over Augmented reality (AR) dominance

In the year between June 2016 and June 2017, AR went from being a fun optional technology in a handful apps - like Pokémon GO – to becoming a vital part of the future strategy for every technology company...
World Wide Web Consortium and Digital Rights Management: Innovating Stagnation

World Wide Web Consortium and Digital Rights Management: Innovating Stagnation

The history of “Digital Rights Management” software while relatively new, has been quite controversial. Oftentimes advocates of online privacy and security argue about the possibilities of abuse stemming from such DRM technologies, along with activists and proponents of the...
New Google Feed: What about privacy?

New Google Feed: What about privacy?

In July of this year, Google Inc. delivered a new feature for its Google app called Feed.  This addition transforms the front page of the app into a news and information feed, where news articles and suggestions are presented...
A click away from giving up our autonomy? – A critical view on Amazon’s new Dash button

A click away from giving up our autonomy? – A critical view on Amazon’s new Dash button

The alarm clock rings, you slowly make your way to the coffee machine since there is no other way of functioning at a time like that, but then realize you ran out of coffee yesterday. What a disaster! But...
Netflix and Choose? Choice, Recommendation and Streaming in an Age of Algorithmic Culture

Netflix and Choose? Choice, Recommendation and Streaming in an Age of Algorithmic Culture

  Have you ever had that moment on “Movie Night”, when the pizza is on it’s way, the ice cream is cooling in the freezer and all you need to do is decide on which dystopian thriller to watch...
Has Apple Destroyed the Internet?

Has Apple Destroyed the Internet?

At the Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 (WWDC) Apple announced to the world their plans to sabotage the infrastructure of the modern internet. Their proposal to implement an ad-blocker called ‘Intelligent Tracking Prevention’ (ITP) onto their web browsers has produced...
Sensory reality; a new technology that changes both your virtual and physical world

Sensory reality; a new technology that changes both your virtual and physical world

Sensory reality. The name maybe already says it all; during a simulation in a virtual world, all your senses are being stimulated. That means that you can walk down the beach while hearing kids play, smelling the salty water...
Unmanned Stores Embraced by Chinese: Are They the Future Shops ?

Unmanned Stores Embraced by Chinese: Are They the Future Shops ?

In July, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba opened its first experimental unmanned store Tao Cafe in the company’s home-city Hangzhou. Shoppers just need to scan the Ali-Pay app to go in, grab stuff and walk out. Money is automatically...

“All I need is your face”: Issues of privacy and security as Apple introduces FaceID.

Apple revealed its latest tech miracle, Iphone X, and alongside came a (not-so) new feature: FaceID. Apple suggests that biometric technology is the solution to security issues and personal identification. But in a data-based economy, more often than not,...
Giving MLM’s a Makeover: Are Beauty Gurus Legitimizing LipSense?

Giving MLM’s a Makeover: Are Beauty Gurus Legitimizing LipSense?

YouTube influencers have become increasingly important to businesses in the last few years. Viewers are turning to them to know what’s hot and what’s not. But, “with great power comes great responsibility” and online influencers should take this into...
Yelp for Humans: Technology Gone Wrong or Sign of a Dystopian Future?

Yelp for Humans: Technology Gone Wrong or Sign of a Dystopian Future?

Peeple, an application described as “Yelp for humans” launched in 2016, despite being mired in controversy. Even ‘Black Mirror’, a popular dystopian TV series, aired an episode about an app that was eerily similar, cementing Peeple’s distinction as nightmare...
“Snooze”: Facebook’s Newest Feature that Enables Users to Temporarily Put Their Friends to “Sleep”

“Snooze”: Facebook’s Newest Feature that Enables Users to Temporarily Put Their Friends to “Sleep”

Are you done receiving certain posts from friends on your News Feed page on Facebook, like their vacation photos while you are sitting inside watching the pouring rain outside? Are you fed up with the Facebook Page that shares...
Is Apple our Online-Privacy Vigilante?

Is Apple our Online-Privacy Vigilante?

Abstract: Apple purports that its new Intelligent Tracking Prevention Technology integrated in Safari browser prevents 3rd-party cookies from collecting users’ data, therefore, reducing online ads, and ultimately protecting users’ privacy. This paper challenges this by arguing that ITP’s functionality...
The Kakao Empire: The South Korean Example of a Digitalized Lifestyle

The Kakao Empire: The South Korean Example of a Digitalized Lifestyle

In South Korea, you can do everything with Kakao. You can send an ice cream cake to your friends, get updates about new mobile games, manage a bank account, call a taxi and much, much more. Although it may...
You Snooze, You Lose? Temporary Time-Out from Friends on Facebook

You Snooze, You Lose? Temporary Time-Out from Friends on Facebook

  Brace yourselves! Facebook is testing out a ‘snooze’ button that reportedly mutes people on your feed for up to 30 days. With the help of the emerging feature, you could (and hopefully will very soon) walk away from...
Time to be honest? The consequences of virtual appreciation.

Time to be honest? The consequences of virtual appreciation.

‘See who likes you’ is the slogan of the new iOS application ‘tbh’ that was launched this August. The app was built as a way to give “positive feedback and honest opinions” on your friends”. Sounds good, but what...
Close The Gate Behind You.

Close The Gate Behind You.

  Indy100.com : A professional news website consisting of the top 100 news stories from that day across 8 different topics. The editorials are displayed in list form, changing the hierarchy in accordance to how its readers interact with...
AI Algorithm as Personal Style Tracker

AI Algorithm as Personal Style Tracker

Design specifically with a GAN, to overcome fast-fashion and overconsumption What will happen when designers can exactly produce what consumers want and need? The generative adversarial network (GAN) founded by online shopping company Amazon can actually do this by...
Shitposting: an analysis of its practices and meanings

Shitposting: an analysis of its practices and meanings

Sometimes, when friends comment on my affection for shitposting, I jokingly refer to my Facebook page as “a curation of the finest avant-garde memes”. This overtly pompous and purposefully pedantic way of describing content obviously undeserving of it is...
Made in China: The Rise of the SuperBanking App

Made in China: The Rise of the SuperBanking App

Historically, the Western world has made the majority of its biggest and most innovative discoveries through travel and the colonisation of other areas and continents that took our fancy. From tobacco to chocolate, the Silk Road has long since...
Forever Alive: Facebook’s Death Policy and Memorialization

Forever Alive: Facebook’s Death Policy and Memorialization

55 is the average age for people to make their will, according to a certified notary. The management and distribution of properties, money and important documents are the most common possessions in these wills. No one ever asked this...
“Arena of Valor”: world’s top grossing mobile game is an auxiliary tool of social network

“Arena of Valor”: world’s top grossing mobile game is an auxiliary tool of social network

One April afternoon, I was lying on my bed and chatting with my friend on Wechat, suddenly, she asked ”Are you playing ‘Arena of Valor’ now? Look at my brilliant record!” and sent me a screenshot about her “penta...
One Man’s Trash, Another Man’s Treasure: The Fate of Our Deleted Data on Web

One Man’s Trash, Another Man’s Treasure: The Fate of Our Deleted Data on Web

    A madman is on the loose with a single aim of making all your deleted files re-appear on the web. Some of which are lame status updates that seemed cool back then, but some, graver. Flirtatious texts...
The fake fame – Black market on social media

The fake fame – Black market on social media

Sitting on a Saturday morning at my desk, it took me ten seconds to find a website which wanted to sell me 2,500 ‘quality Instagram followers’ to boost my account for the price of about 25€. The website claims...