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

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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TECH

5 forgotten Burning Studio gems

Sven Krumrey

Do you know a fool-proof way to make a programmer blush? Just ask for features that lie deeply buried in a huge application. The addressee will look like they forgot their middle child's birthday and instantly start clicking frantically. But there's no shame in not knowing every corner of a program even if it was written by oneself a long time ago! These applications started out small, quickly gained momentum and eventually turned into feature behemoths. It's like handling children. Initially cute, small and manageable you'll eventually thank the heavens that you get along with them somehow. Naturally, Burning Studio also has a lot of useful features to discover that I wouldn't want to withhold from you.

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TECH

Embarrassment, unexpected exits and zombies: The world of malware

Sven Krumrey

Yes, I made a grave mistake. I wanted to download a codec pack. Not a problem you say? I beg to differ, especially when you're faced with multiple attempts at slipping you unwanted third-party software to get your money! Put on your Indiana Jones hat and prepare for the whimsical world of malware!

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TECH

5 forgotten WinOptimizer gems

Sven Krumrey

If you ever wanted to see actual programmers tear their hair, just suggest a feature that already exists in their programs. The larger a feature set grows, the more likely it becomes that existing and useful features are forgotten or buried in the depths of the many program menus. WinOptimizer was originally advertised as the Swiss Army knife of Windows optimization tools but as with the real thing, people tend to forget about the many possibilities the program has to offer.

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