Sven Krumrey

A a passionate German philologist and historian, Sven Krumrey, born 1973, was introduced to the computer age early by his Commodore C64 and later turned his hobby into a profession. He is equally intrigued by gadgets, good software, hypes surrounding the Internet and the contradictions of the digital age.

All articles by Sven Krumrey:

LIFE

Everything in the cloud! Good idea or security risk?

Sven Krumrey

"Where are our vacation shots? Are they gone?" The women seemed on the verge of a stress-related demise while holding her crushed cellphone in her hands. With a smile, her husband (obviously a model for tooth bleaching) turned around and replied in a calm voice: "They can't be gone, they're in the cloud!" Domestic bliss had returned, it was joy all over again, the coffee is ready.

That about sums up the essence of most ads run by cloud service providers. It doesn't matter if a piano drops on you, you're data will still be safe. Whether that's the case is another story since ads are known to exaggerate.

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TECH

2 minute tech: What's 4K / Ultra-HD?

Sven Krumrey

Tech zealots have been trembling in awe for a while when uttering these to words: 4K and Ultra-HD. You may have heard that this is a new standard for TVs and computer displays. Read on to learn what the fuss is all about and whether you should jump on the 4K bandwagon now!

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BUSINESS

The perfect Google search - how to save hours and get better results

Sven Krumrey

Google (and numerous other search engines) grant us access to the knowledge of the world - if you know how to use them. Sure, you can get results with just a few keywords, finding a nearby drugstore is not a problem. But Google Search can do so much more! If you intend to make an informed purchase, look for specific document types or need to apply a strong filter to your search results you will need to dig a little deeper into the technical details. Read on to learn what you can do with Google Search, how you can instantly get useful results on the first page (instead of page 6) and how you can remedy memory gaps.

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LIFE

Too old to learn new things? Never!

Sven Krumrey

Recently an older friend told me he'd like to know if his old friends were on Facebook. He had moved many times in his long life and eventually lost touch with his old contacts, you know how it is. Since I knew he owned a PC plus Internet I was about to ask him why he wouldn't simply take a look online. After all, he was perfectly capable of inputting names like Krzysztof Szyszkowitz himself! I got his answer before I could ask and it drove me mad inside. Facebook was new to him, certainly very complicated and generally, at his age… Frankly, that's a shame. He didn't lack the motivation or doubt their controversial privacy policies, he simply thought himself incapable. But why? Any moderately sane person familiar with mouse and keyboard can do so much more with their computer! "If I can show you ten guys with the IQ of a fire hydrant that made it onto Facebook, will you promise me that you'll give it a try?"

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LIFE

The devil is in the details - How to identify phishing mails

Sven Krumrey

Mails with serious content in an official tone, final notices or seemingly technical issues are enough to unsettle most readers. Often, this is an attempt at cheating you out of your money as I described last week. How can you catch on to the scammers, where do they give themselves away? The first step is to realize that your personal information is already in the wrong hands.

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