Number of Posts: 47
Posts 1 - 10
At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 1.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, brain, childhood, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | A controversy has sparked over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health recommendation regarding cell phones. They had reviewed research on brain tumor risk connected with cell phone use and decided that the data were not convincing enough. Their recommendation was that cell phone users need not be more cautious with cell phones than other daily lifestyle choices. However, the research is also not extensive enough to disprove an increased risk of brain tumor with high rates of cell phone use, especially for children. In response to the backlash to this recommendation, their stance was revised a few times so that it now states that the C.D.C. does not recommend caution but other organizations do.
Image Description | Reuters image of a crowd and one man speaking on the smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone
Diese drei Anwendungen sind besser als Whatsapp
(These three apps are better than WhatsApp)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 5.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | law, privacy, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | Brazil has just blocked WhatsApp in their country for 72 hours in order to for WhatsApp to share chats with their police in ciminal cases. It is unlikely that something like this will happen in Germany but it is good to know about some alternatives just in case... Especially since WhatsApp is not very trustworthy about user privacy. Threema is a Swiss app that alllows for user anonymity, Slack is a really good app to use with colleagues because files can be saved within group chats, and Telegram deletes inactive chats after a while so that there are no traces.
Image Description | Woman using a smartphone with headphones on the street.
Image Tags | female(s), headphones, smartphone
Warum wir nie wieder Smalltalk machen müssen
(Why we never have to do smalltalk again)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 4.10.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Google, threat
Summary | Chatbots operated with artificial intelligence like Google's Allo will soon obliterate our need to engage in smalltalk. It can suggest appropriate or social expected responses to generic messages and other content. It can for example recognize an image of food and suggest to respond "yummy!". This can be convenient but it can also result in chatbots essential talking to other chatbots in the name of their human users.
Image Description | Getty image illustration showing a man and a microchip.
Image Tags | male(s)
Ausprobieren statt Null-Eins-Angst
(Experimenting instead of zero-one-anxiety)
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 25.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | computer programming, digitized education, school, threat, youth
Summary | A school in Britain is now teaching 7th grade students simple programming in order to advance computer literacy - an important cause for future generations. Some newspapers have however seen the end of the world as we know it in these news. If students are taught to think in the binary scheme of computer programming, how will they understand human emotions and complex critique? Clearly, this concern is disproportionate.
Image Description | N/A
"Wie ist das bei dir?"
("How is that for you?")
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 14.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | misunderstanding, online dating, politeness, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | We are more connected than ever nowadays. There should be no room for alienation in relationships with all those media available to us to communicate. WhatsApp even lets us know when our loved ones were last online and when they read a message. This may sound good at first but it can cause a lot of misunderstandings and jealousy when partners do not respond to messages right away.
Image Description | N/A
Die Floh-Affäre
(The flea affair)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 7.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, gender, law, smartphone, threat
Summary | Many children get tricked into subscribing to dubious newsletter services on their smartphones and are then intimidated into paying subscription fees. There is no legal need to pay these fees but people are easily intimidated. The author's son has subscribed to a porn site by accident and possibly President Obama's daughter have similar issues and find themselves having to pay for a horoscope subscription.
Image Description | N/A
Dieser Hass auf das Netz ist lächerlich
(This hate online is ridiculous)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 29.10.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, fake news, law, social media, threat
Summary | People are writing books about how the internet and social media are the bane of democracy. Social media have however not created a new genre of bullying and hate lanuguage (just a new medium). It just enables everyone to see every hateful opinion that used to be hidden in peoples homes.The myth of the filter bubble is being spread by politicians and regular people alike but people have always liked to get the news they agreed with. No one subscribes to a newspaper that has the opposite political outlook. Also, contrary to popular belief, wrong doers on Facebook are being held accountable if the cross the line of what is legal and what is not.
Image Description | Getty image of zeros and ones with a pair of eyes.
Heute: Lügen
(Today: lying)
Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 11.10.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, fake news, social media, threat
Summary | With so much information online lies exist and prosper alongside facts. It is difficult to tell them apart so maybe the computers should be in charge of marking facts green and non-facts red. People would not trust them even if they did. Fake news and lies feed hate online on social media.
Image Description | N/A
Darum ist Pokémon Go bei Muslimen verpönt
(This is why Pokémon Go is frowned upon by muslims)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 6.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, game, law, politics, privacy, threat
Summary | Many muslim authorities in varioius countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have declared Pokémon Go as wildly inappropriate for muslims. It references othher religions (with symbols) which allow for multiple gods along side each other, it propagates Darwin's theory of evolution, and most importantly: it constitutes gambling which is prohibited by the Qur'an. This does not mean that the state in Malaysia enforces that religious advice as a law. Non-muslim people are also worried about Pokémon Go but not because of ideological issues but because it can be seen as a surveillance scam and so a privacy breach hazard.
Image Description | Men playing Pokémon Go and portraits of a few male experts mentioned in the article.
Image Tags | game, male(s), smartphone
Böse mitgespielt
(Foul play)
Newspaper | Welt
Date | 21.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, game, law, pornography, sexting, threat
Summary | All children learn that they should beware of dangerous men on playgrounds but few parents include the same warning about digital playgrounds. Multiple cases are known in Germany where children were contacted by paedosexuals online through chat functions in online multi-player games and coaxed into sharing information, nude images, and meeting up resulting in sexual abuse.
Image Description | N/A
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