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:

TECH

S.M.A.R.T. - Outsmarted by hard disks

Sven Krumrey

I break out a sweat whenever one of those warning lights comes on in my car. How about you? Even if it was only signaling a loose ashtray it'd still drive me mad. But these lights are supposed to warn us of imminent danger. And it worked, I knew with absolute certainty that my ancient BMW was done. But that's another story, this one's about computers.

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TECH

2 minute tech: Cookies

Sven Krumrey

You too have cookies! Don't panic. Learn more about the role cookies play on your machine here.

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LIFE

The biodiversity of social networks

Sven Krumrey

Do you like humans? Every human? Kudos to anyone who can answer yes to both questions! A friend of mine postulated that 50% of humanity is made up of disgruntled individuals, an extreme view, admittedly. But it's feasible, especially when you take a closer look at social networks. What was originally a meeting place for nerds has become a representative cross-section of our society, pros and cons notwithstanding. Still, it's quite easy to figure out what type of person you're dealing with....

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LIFE

Amazon - the truth behind the ads

Sven Krumrey

Often, the more an offer is advertised the less clear it becomes what it is all about. With Amazon Prime, it is even more difficult as the name is used for a bundle of different services. Amazon is bundling products that originally were meant to be separate. "Prime Instant Video" and free premium shipping seem to be the two most important aspects. But what exactly do they mean and is Amazon Prime really worth $99 a year?

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LIFE

Now what, Facebook?

Sven Krumrey

I do like Facebook. You stay in touch with nice people, share in their lives, meet long lost school mates and learn all the latest gossip about your town. Yes, there are embarrassing extroverts in gruesome poses but, in all honesty: There's an element of comedy even in their crude displays. Things take a turn for the worse when not so nice guys use Facebook to go off about anything that doesn't fit into their concept of the world. To prevent this and put an early stop to virtual mobs, Facebook has come up with community guidelines. They basically state that we should all be nice to each other and (important!) should not show too much naked skin. Too bad that doesn't work.

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