Worldcrunch
👋 Sannu!* Welcome to Thursday, where Kim Jong-un affirms his support for Vladimir Putin, the UAE denounces Israeli plans to annex the West Bank, and today’s quiz question is about a Nazi-looted Italian painting. Meanwhile, we offer a tour du monde of the state of the debate as to whether adults can physically discipline children. […]
The online world is now a second home to so many people, with the effect of streamlining and distorting the human activity of communication. This was to be expected in an age obsessed with unending productivity and swift results.
We need awareness of how AI systems work, of how to be critical and how to be able to leverage AI.
As war broke out with Israel, Iran plunged into an unprecedented internet blackout — cutting off 91 million people, silencing civil society, and tightening the regime’s digital grip.
Ukraine needs satellite internet defense capabilities like that provided by Starlink. But do they really want to be dependent on Elon Musk? The good news is that Europe is not completely empty-handed. But time is of the essence.
Artificial intelligence can solve tasks that previously only humans could solve. So what distinguishes us from machines?
Whether it’s to narrow the digital divide or to attract tourists, foreign businesses, remote workers and digital nomad influencers, it might be time to offer free internet access across society. Here are some of the places leading the push.
A look into how copyright laws may or may not be applicable to memes, which normally use an existing image without any consent. The question is a reminder of how the Internet has changed the basics of communication and commerce.
Every day, parts of the Internet disappear, because they are not profitable or nobody cares. It’s the silent loss of decades of culture.
November 25 – December 1, 2024
Forget about the satellites: 99% of global data traffic runs over fiber optic cables on the seabed. Now, climate change and political sabotage might put the infrastructure at risk.
Any other nation would cultivate the myth of a figure like former Polish President Lech Wałęsa, marginalizing his flaws, errors, and weaknesses. But in Poland, we have marginalized the greatness of a legend, whose modern thinking is relevant in present-day politics, writes Gazeta Wyborcza columnist Magdalena Środa.
If artificial intelligence-created content floods the internet, who decides what online information is worth archiving?
Need a break from the hustle and bustle or the doom and gloom? From zebras in their natural habitat to remotely blowing bubbles in a Florida garden, there’s bound to be something for you in the thousands of livestreams available on Earth — and even in orbit.
A new alternative education model is emerging online, competing unintentionally with the traditional school institution. Are we prepared for the change?
We’re renouncing books to gorge ourselves on digital imagery and short texts. If we continue like this, ditching the written word of the past, we may soon become fitting descendants of the cringing, timorous masses of the dark ages.
Whether we’re kids or adults, with different risks and problems posed, we share the same challenge: how to use screens, and use them well.
Rationalism and technology are no longer tools in our hands but govern our lives, in a depressing world of our own making.
The pandemic brought a massive effort to limit the spread of bad health information. Did it do more harm than good?
The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.
In recent years, social interest in climatology has grown exponentially, turning meteorologists into quasi-rockstars who, thanks to technology, can interact with their audiences and provide real-time updates.
October 9 – October 15, 2023
Mothers everywhere are struggling with the pressures of parenting in an increasingly individualistic culture. Enter the rapidly growing empire of parenting influencers who promise to help – at a price. In Italy, where mothers have long been seen as models of strength, the novelty is particularly acute.
The inner workings of Artificial Intelligence are impenetrable, unexplainable and unpredictable. That build in some fundamental limits to its capacity and utility.
A new biography of the Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and Space X boss reveals that Elon Musk prevented the Ukrainian army from attacking the Russian fleet in Crimea last year, by limiting the beam of his Starlink satellites. Unchecked power is a problem.
As newspapers reduce or fold, the elderly find themselves with less connection to their community and at risk of misinformation in an online world that is unfamiliar.
A school in the US is suing social media giants for damage done to children’s well-being. But fining tech giants is a feeble response to their attacks on society’s welfare.
The internet is a new experience for many in the country. That makes people easy prey.
A video series appeared then vanished this week from Russia’s only authorized social media platform. Its purpose seemed to be to recruit men (of all ages) to enlist in the war, as a way to make money. But who exactly is behind the campaign? What was the ultimate objective?
Why has Russia invaded Ukraine? Internet readers want to know. What will Ukraine be like after the war? That’s a question to start answering, even if the battle is far from over.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, journalists and citizens have used open source online intelligence to help the war effort and fight disinformation. NGOs and amateur investigators are even using it to look for evidence of human rights abuses.
Metaverses are introducing ownership and rarity to the internet for the first time in its history. It is already generating billions of dollars in transactions, but the risk is that it becomes a club exclusively for the wealthy.
A first-hand experience of how illegal bots are making it impossible for many immigrants in France to live here legally.
Russian media outlets have received government orders to remove archived material about Alexei Navalny and his investigations into corruption by Vladimir Putin and his associates. While the jailed activist’s past work can be found elsewhere, YouTube and other foreign internet platforms may be the Kremlin’s next target.
The change of Facebook’s name to Meta is a hint to the general public of where social media and digital sovereignty risks taking us in a future “virtual” world.
This weekend’s unprecedented operation to dismantle the cybercriminal REvil network in Russia was carried out on a request and information from Washington. Occurring just as the two countries face off over the Russian threat to invade Ukraine raises more questions than it answers.
Cyberbullying has gained ground again this school year. For philosopher and free-market advocate Gaspard Koenig, it’s simple: social media has the effects of an addictive and harmful drug, and thus forbidden for those under 16.
People used social media to help organize the large, anti-government protests that took place on the island last July. And yet, unlike their counterparts in China, Cuban authorities are loath to prohibit access to such sites. Do the math.
At 3,304 and counting, the list of officially recognized emojis includes more than just happy faces, hearts and clinking beer mugs. With certain icons there are politics at play, and even questions about regional pride and sovereignty, as lawmakers in the Canadian province of Quebec made clear in recent days. For now, there is no […]