By Mike O’Brien SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Portal (2007), Halo: Reach (2010), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Crime and Punishment (1866). In powerful art, there is no such thing as stasis. Of the 205 special-effects shots in KubrickÔÇÖs 2001: A Space Odyssey, many frame celestial still life landscapes, ossified gazes at ossified space. For centuries, playwrights have halted … Continue reading Games Must Revise Scene for a New Audience

By Mike O’Brien Do me a favour and watch the embedded video below. ItÔÇÖs not graphic, I promise, but I would highly recommend headphones. When YouTubeÔÇÖs ever-inscrutable algorithm brought this video to my attention, I assumed it was merely a hilarious exemplar of todayÔÇÖs surreal avant-garde meme humour. But when I noticed it was uploaded almost eight years ago, a hunch brewed within that there … Continue reading STR Wars: The Holesome Odyssey of Bruno Powroznik

By Mike OÔÇÖBrien Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Spec Ops: The Line, and minor spoilers for Grand Theft Auto IV. In 1969, Mario Puzo wrote a novel called The Godfather. Despite his working-class heritage in HellÔÇÖs Kitchen, PuzoÔÇÖs hobbies included lavish six-course meals and ignoring the bill. Fortunately, he was a magazine staffer at a mythical time in … Continue reading Ludonarrative Dissonance: The Elephant in the WriterÔÇÖs Room

By Mike O’Brien Netflix sensation Black Mirror is Charlie BrookerÔÇÖs occasionally brilliant exploration of human conflict through the lens of future technology. But could these technologies ever truly exist? And if so, are the scenarios likely to occur? IÔÇÖve painstakingly analysed every single episode of the show and assessed each oneÔÇÖs prophetic vision, rating them out of 10 based on their social and technological foresight. … Continue reading Just how prophetic is Black Mirror?

By Molly Sedgemore ItÔÇÖs hard to believe that the creations of Silicon Valley were once a thing of dreams, a far-off unattainable notion where technology could help us rule the world. What started as a means to create more jobs after the Great Recession has become home to the worldÔÇÖs leading innovators in technology. Some of the most progressive inventions of the modern age were … Continue reading Prejudice in Silicon Valley

By Chris Colbourn iPhone owners can now apply for an Apple credit card in their phone’s preinstalled Wallet app, on any iPhone running iOS 12.4 or later. To apply, users need only input their date of birth, income, and the last 4 digits of their social security number, all in the app. This data then goes straight to the bank issuing the card, Goldman Sachs … Continue reading The Lowdown on the Apple Card

By Sarah Belger With general elections now seeming to take place every two years, you might expect politicians to be running out of things to say and places to say them (where people are still listening). Faced with an electorate with neither the time for (nor the faith in) manifestos, the social media presence of all the main parties is more central than ever. Judging … Continue reading GE 2019: The Online Battleground

By Mike O’Brien The inexorable tide of automation is upon us, and as economists and futurologists forecast the obsolescence of human roles in the service and retail sectors, one can’t help but ask: where will it end? Is anyone among us truly safe from machine replacement? Oxford University reckons that mental healthcare professionals, detectives, and teachers can sit tight. Uniting these roles is the irreplaceable … Continue reading The Automation of… Comedy?

By Polly Denny Tinder has been sparking matches since 2012, and while many of us log into the app almost daily as a part of our social media round up, how many of us really know how it works? The past decade has seen a complete turnaround in attitudes towards online dating. Before, the sorts of eHarmony and OKCupid might have been seen as something … Continue reading ItÔÇÖs a Catch: TinderÔÇÖs predatory algorithms and the lonely hearts in the crossfire

Introduction by Mike O’Brien I’m a huge fan of Black Mirror, but it’s dripping with cynical dread about how unequipped we are to evolve at technologyÔÇÖs pace. Worse yet are the smug blogs that insist on chucking your phone in the bin, because friendship, mindfulness, parents in the landed gentry, and a two-year island sabbatical are the only basics you need in life. To that, we … Continue reading Digital Wellbeing, or: why your phone isn’t the problem

By Danny Brown The term ÔÇÿplanned obsolescenceÔÇÖ has been thrown around a lot these last couple years, as fears emerged that tech companies were sentencing your phone to certain death whilst rubbing their hands with glee. But is the dilapidation of your mobile malevolently planned by evil CEO overlords, or is it just half-life? Most of us first heard the term when French prosecutors investigated … Continue reading Planned Obsolescence: Do Tech Companies Decide When Your Devices Live or Die?