Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 28
Posts 1 - 10

At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk

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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

Die Floh-Affäre

(The flea affair)

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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.
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"Sagt der Bewerber die Unwahrheit?"

("Is the applicant telling untruths?")

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 2.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy, smartphone
Summary | Many companies now take advantage of the huge amounts of data that we create on a daily basis by being online and carrying a smartphone on us at all times. Facebook tracks all our movements online even when we are not signed up. Our smartphone collects data about our whereabouts. Companies can buy this data to target us with specific advertising or to enhance their hiring process to include data from our social media activity. This way they can conduct analysis about how valuable each applicant would be to the company.
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Heute: Dazugehören

(Today: Belonging)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 16.8.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, smartphone, social media, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | The internet has brought humanity, especially younger generations a lot of stress. A lot more information is now available, for instance about what one could do, and that leads to a fear of missing out on something. People constantly have to check their smartphones so as not to miss a new viral video or a new thread in their WhatsApp chat about changing group hangout plans.
Image Description | N/A

Saudi-Arabien verdammt Pokémon Go als unislamisch

(Saudi Arabia bans Pokémon Go as unislamic)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 21.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | game, smartphone, threat, virtual reality
Summary | Saudi Arabia has banned Pokémon Go because it falls under the rubric of gambling which is prohibited in Islam. Further, it resembles Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and some symbols in the game resemble Christian and Jewish symbolism. Some people have however illegally downloaded the game on their smartphones. It lets users "catch" Pokémon thanks to augmented reality.
Image Description | Hands holding smartphones with a woman wearing a hijab in the background.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

Die Pokémon-Odyssee

(The Pokémon odyssee)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 17.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | addiction, game, smartphone, virtual reality
Summary | The new smartphone craze is the game Pokémon Go which lets users catch virtual Pokémons in their real surroundings. The game requires players to actually move around and search virtually distributed Pokémons. Currently, one can spot many people on the street playing the game by walking down the street staring at their smartphone screens. Most of them also have portable chargers with them because the game uses a lot of battery and people very much want to keep playing for hours at a time.
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Lernen mit Mensch und Maschine

(Learning with human and machine)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | digitized education, research/study, smartphone
Summary | The language learning app Duolingo has many happy users. It is free and really effective in teaching a basic knowledge of foreign languages. The app can remember what grammatical formations and words a user struggles with and keeps quizzing them about it. Their statistics say that after 34 hours of using the app, users are on the same level as students who have been learning a language in class for a semester. If one wants to become really competent in a foreign language, it is of course necessary to get a human tutor.
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Die Jungs von heute können einfach nicht mehr flirten

(The boys of today just can't flirt anymore)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 7.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | online dating, research/study, smartphone, social media, youth
Summary | Young people nowadays cannot flirt anymore. They are constantly tied to their smartphones - 57 hours per week a recent study says - and do not pay attention to what is going on around them. They are more comfortable communicating via a medium than face-to-face. Many girls lament on social media how there are no available boys. Young boys should look up form their phones more often - the girls would be grateful.
Image Description | Getty images of young men and women with and without smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Smarter Übersetzer im Ohr statt Vokabeln pauken

(Smart translator in one's ear rather than studying vocab)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 19.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | smartphone, translation
Summary | A new in-ear device is available that connects to a smartphone app in order to translate face-to-face conversations in real time. This product would make human translators redundant. So far, the app can translate into English, Spanish, French, and Italian and Slavic and East-Asian languages are scheduled to be next.
Image Description | N/A

Kein Leben ohne Gadget

(No life without a gadget)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 11.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | addiction, smartphone
Summary | When smartphones and camera phones were initially invented most people thought: why would anyone need a camera in their phone with them at all times. Now, many people could not handle not having a smartphone for a day. Life will never be the same after the invention of these gadgets.
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