How Ads Follow You Around The Internet
You’ve seen the pop-ups: “This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Please accept cookies.” Without cookies, the online world we know today couldn’t exist. But that world relies on advertising, which gives three kinds of companies a strong incentive to track your online behavior.
Urban Geography: Why We Live Where We Do
Rich Americans live in the suburbs; Rich Europeans live downtown. Why do cities on the two continents have different structures?
“I Met The Walrus”, An Animated Interview With John Lennon
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina have collaborated to create an animated short film.
The “Neuropolitics” Consultants Who Hack Voters’ Brains
Campaigns around the world are employing Emotion Research Lab and other marketers versed in neuroscience to penetrate voters’ unspoken feelings.These experts say they can divine political preferences you can’t express from signals you don’t know you’re producing.
Portrait Of A Place: Atlantic City
Unmasking the declining seaside resort through a portrait of its inhabitants. With a no-holds-barred approach, directors Ben Carey and Billy Linker deliver a full-frontal profile of the once-booming resort town on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast—often sidelined as the “poor man’s Las Vegas.”
Four Japanese Rules To Live Past 100
Okinawa, long known as the island of the immortals, is home to the highest concentration of centenarians in Japan. The village of Kitanakagusuku ranks first in Japanese women’s longevity. What is it about this island that makes its inhabitants live a longer and happier life?
Sweden’s Cashless Society Dream Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
Just one per cent of Sweden’s GDP circulates as cash. As debates over the need for cash rage along lines of age, wealth and location, the country is looking to create a digital currency.
“Skater’s Paradise”, A Monochromatic Portrait Of Four Berlin Boarders
Youri Fernandez turns his lens on the art of skateboarding in this monochromatic portrait of four boarders as they make Berlin their playground, soundtracked by a metronomic composition from electronic musician Petit Fantôme.
Undercover Reporter Reveals Life In A Polish Troll Farm
Undercover reporter, Katarzyna Pruszkiewicz, spent six months this year working at Cat@Net, which describes itself as an “ePR agency comprising specialists who build a positive image of companies, private individuals and public institutions – mostly in social media.”.
“Jahre Viking”, The World’s Biggest Ship Ever Built
She was nearly twice the length of the Titanic, and her lesser-known history is no less epic. She’s been called by many names like Seawise Giant, Happy Ginat, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis and Oppama & Mont. She was the biggest moving object that mankind has ever built.
Could Vertical Forests Improve Our Health?
A UN ‘World Cities’ report in 2016 predicted that two-thirds of the global population will live in cities by 2030. Could buildings like Bosco Verticale in Milan help tackle pollution and improve people’s health?
China Aims To Launch The World’s First Official Digital Currency
Dozens of central banks have started looking at whether to issue digital currencies. But only a few have run trials and none has gone as far as China, which appears set to become the first country to put a central-bank digital currency (cbdc) into limited use.
Digital Technology Is Not To Blame For Our Hyperfast Lives
Life in the 21st century, we are told, is faster than ever. Time is scarce, the pace of everyday life is accelerating, and everyone complains about how busy they are. For all the smart tech, we still feel pressed for time. Are digital services the problem, or are we humans to blame?
Why Singapore Is Heating Up 2x Faster Than The Planet
Singapore is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world – with maximum daily temperatures predicted to reach 35-37 degrees Celsius by year 2100. This video explores how, beyond climate change, the urban heat island effect spells trouble for future Singapore.
Tor vs VPN, Which One Should You Use For Privacy, Anonymity And Security
Many regular people that choose VPNs do so to prevent their ISPs from spying on their browsing history and selling it to advertisers. What they don’t realize is that they are not enhancing their privacy – they are just delegating the trust to a different company.
Big Tech Takes Aim At The Low-Profit Retail-Banking Industry
After years of timidity Big Tech, with its billions of users and gigantic war chest, at last appears serious about crashing the fintech party. Amazon and Apple introduced a credit card. Facebook announced a new payments system and Google said it would start offering current (checking) accounts in America.
Is Big Tech Good For Your Health?
Health care is in the midst of a digital revolution and it is generating an ocean of data. Tech giants including Google and Microsoft want to work with hospitals and health-care systems to improve lives. But should people trust them with their medical data?
Spanish Flu: A Warning From History
Celebrations marking the end of the First World War were cut short by the onslaught of a devastating disease – the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. The University of Cambridge has made a new film exploring what we have learnt about Spanish Flu, the urgent threat posed by influenza today, and how scientists are preparing for future pandemics.
Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Lost Notebook
In a journal with unlined 8-by-10 paper, Zuckerberg sketched his mission and product design and explored how a tiny company might become a vital utility for the world. In detail, he described features called Open Registration and Feed, two products that would supercharge his company.
The ‘Internet of Things’ Is Sending Us Back To The Middle Ages
One key reason we don’t control our devices is that the companies that make them seem to think – and definitely act like – they still own them, even after we’ve bought them. The companies say they still own the software, and because they own it, they can control it.
How Slack Ruined Work
Slack is a particularly “scary offender” in stopping people getting their work done because it encourages them to be constantly distracted. It’s scary because messenger-based systems directly tap into how humans seek to reward themselves, and the long term result is unhealthy.