The very latest
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#Soul tech
Will the Machine Govern Us?
Some sticks with little red flags have appeared in the fields of the university. They are the resistance, life resisting against the machine. If you think about it, it’s another lost battle. Seen from an office, it’s just two retirees being a nuisance. A snapshot of the moment, if we reflect from a philosophical perspective.
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#Soul tech
From Network Society to Digital Labyrinth: Algorithms, Bubbles, and Attention Markets
Those of us who were young in the 1990s still remember the enthusiasm with which the arrival of the internet was received. Suddenly, a new space of freedom opened before our eyes, a digital territory where information would flow horizontally and globally, bypassing the mediation and censorship of the powerful groups that at the time controlled the media shaping the public sphere. It was as if, overnight, a crack had appeared in the wall of one-way communication: forums like The Well, homemade pages like Geocities, or collaborative projects like Wikipedia embodied the promise of a “network society,” where knowledge and public discussion could circulate freely and without hierarchy, weaving collaborative networks that would challenge the vertical structures of the past.
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#Soul tech
The Fediverse and the sustainability of life
Technology can be developed in many different ways. In relation to this idea, Donna Haraway says something I like to repeat: “We depend on what we make, and we are what we make.” This phrase suggests that the technology we create is a reflection of our society. Therefore, to stop the ecological catastrophe we humans are causing, we should rethink our relationships with the planet and the species that inhabit it. The Fediverse is a practical example of this reconsideration of relationships.
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#Soul tech
One Click Away from Your Doorstep: The True Price of E-commerce
Pizza Hut claims that the first online purchase was one of their pizzas. There's also a story about a grandmother who used her TV remote to order eggs, butter, and flour. But in reality, the first true online purchase was made by Dan Kohn, an American teenager who had a friend nearly 500 km away and wanted to sell him Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales album. And he did! It wasn’t easy, but with his knowledge and a bit of help from his startup, Phil Brandenburger managed to get the website to accept his VISA card, successfully purchasing the CD for $12.48.
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#Soul tech
Hey, ChatGPT, could you sing me a bertso?
We came up with an experiment… What would happen if we had ChatGPT start creating bertsos? It’s often said that machines, or in this case artificial intelligence, could never replace human art, since it doesn’t stem from personal feelings or human experiences. But is that really true?
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#Soul tech
Graphic music: a journey from geometry to the staff
It might seem that the only way to "see" music on a medium is by looking directly at sheet music. But what if we could see and understand sounds through symbols and non-musical shapes, even without a musical background?
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#Soul tech
Frieza could you die just a little faster, please?
“Will Goku finally kill Frieza today?” That’s the question we all ask ourselves every day when we get to class. We’ve been watching TV at 9 p.m. for nearly two weeks, waiting for this fight to end, but it seems this purple and white "guy" never throws in the towel. In class, a debate erupts every day before the teacher arrives; everyone in the room has their own theory about how it will end: “I think Gohan will kill him!” “Maybe Bulma will invent something to trap him,” “maybe they’ll gather the Dragon Balls and use them to finish him,” “does anyone think Yamcha might be the hero of this story?” Well… no, poor Yamcha has enough to deal with on his own.
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#Soul tech
I don't know what I don't know
We all know how comfortable it can be, at times, to live in ignorance. If I don't know something, if I'm unaware of its existence, no one can accuse me of ignorance.
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#Soul tech
Needles are really something
More than 40,000 years ago, humanity faced a challenge on which the success or failure of the species was to depend: not freezing to death and being able to leave the Santimamiñe Cave, in the Upper Palaeolithic, in style.
“Maitia, if you're going to go out, put on the goatskin… the shaman says that the Ice Age is coming this afternoon”.
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#Soul tech
Speak to me clearly, Clara
We like to communicate. That's the way things are. We've been communicating for millennia. from that caveman who drew bison in the Cave of Altamira to show off his knowledge of game, to that trendy TikToker who changes clothes more than a model at a fashion show. The ability to transmit culture over thousands of years is what has gotten us to this point. It's what separates us (not always) from a monkey gazing at the Serengeti.
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#Soul tech
How can you compete with someone who’s always learning?
After World War I, Germany was destroyed, and its society was mired in a depression that went way beyond the mere monetary aspects. But, when everything was destroyed, the only solution was to reinvent, to start over.
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#Soul tech
About iron, birds and flowers
Digitalisation has become a dominant trend in recent years, as companies around the world have perceived the need to transform their businesses; for example, by transferring their services to the Internet, a webpage, or an application.
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#Soul tech
Are robots really taking away our jobs?
When the wave of robotisation in the 1980s produced a group of detractors speaking out against computing, IBM released an advert that was a true reflection on the problem of automation and the concept of work. The marketing poster had only the following text:
“Two men were watching a bulldozer on a building site. One of them said ‘If it weren’t for that machine, twelve men with shovels could be doing that job’. The other responded ‘That’s clear, and if it weren’t for the twelve shovels, two hundred men with teaspoons could be doing it”.
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#Soul tech
Digital divides
How we’ve sped up digitalisation in the last two years is like something out of a sci-fi movie. It no longer surprises anyone that the digital/physical barrier has completely blurred, and we’re oscillating between the online world and the “real” one almost without even realising it.
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#Soul tech
The Dark – and Light – Side of Technology
A long time ago, in a reality far, far away, on our own planet…
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#Soul tech
Enrique Solano, quantum avant-gardist
Enrique Solano (Lima, 1964) (aka Kike) is truly gifted. Pushing the limits of the laws of quantum physics, Kike seems to be able to be in more than one state and place at the same time.
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#Soul tech
Why things work
The difference between a project’s success and failure is hidden in a mystery box that we’re going to open today.
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#Soul tech
Itziar Landa, Machine Learning, and algorithms as a reflection of society
We knock on Itziar Landa's door (figuratively speaking, we're not crazy enough to show up at her office in person) because of her technical background and her present role as a technology manager. Not only is she a Telecommunications Engineer, but she also holds a Master's degree in Information and Communication Technologies in Mobile Networks, and she is a PhD with honors in Signal Theory and Communications. That's quite an impressive résumé.
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#Soul tech
How to Succeed in GovTech with a Start-up
Universities have been hotbeds of entrepreneurship for years. Though there’s always a group of students thinking about working at a large corporation, and some others who aim for government positions, many others are trying to come up with an idea… to get together with their friends from class and make their dream of creating a company come true.
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#Soul tech
The Art of Going Round and Round
Five people were walking down a path together when it started to rain. Four of them quickened their pace, but the fifth made no effort to avoid the rain, but he wasn’t wet at all when they reached their destination. How did he do it?
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#Soul tech
Governments, Cyberattacks, and Cybersecurity: Is This a 007 film?
GovTech is the buzzword that describes the urgent need to modernize and digitize the government and, of course, the benefits that this will bring to society.
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#Soul tech
Is anyone even thinking about science anymore?
Faced with the titanic challenges of the 21st century, a democratic society that aspires to regulate itself must be scientific, because otherwise, democracy, as a political system, will disappear. It's as simple as that.
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#Soul tech
Carlos Santiso and the Winds of Change
Dr. Carlos Santiso is a professional like no other. With an outstanding attitude, he opened up the gates of his knowledge for us to walk in as if we were right at home. As Division Head of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), he works tirelessly so that people living in emerging economies (mainly in America and Africa) have better lives, in addition to devoting most of his time to promoting democracy, strengthening governments, and fighting corruption. He also reminds us of a saying by Jorge Luis Borges:
“The future isn’t what’s going to happen, but what we’re going to do.”
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#Soul tech
Art... What For? A Conversation Between Ingebørg and Kike Solano About Creative Processes
We began the interview with a confession:
“Good day, Inge and Kike. This isn’t an interview. We fooled you. We want it to be a conversation, for you to tell us about your creative processes, what the relationship between Technology and Art is, for you, and to what extent art improves our quality of life. In short, we want to talk about creation.”
Laughing, they accepted.
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#Soul tech
Hey! i also want to watch goenkale | disability in media
There's a saying in Basque that goes, "Quickly and well, the dove flies." So, it seems like it's telling us that we're not doves; crows, quails, woodpeckers… are we chickens, then? Still (and even if it annoys us), once again, we have to agree with a saying that has been around for many years (who would have thought?). When it comes to including people with disabilities in society, especially in terms of media, we are quite far from being doves.
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#Soul tech
Digitalization vs accesibility: an (im)possible balance
That we, as people, are diverse is something we increasingly understand. Fortunately, as a society, we are evolving towards accepting that diversity can be not only good but even desirable.
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#Soul tech
Is artificial intelligence a friend or an enemy of art?
The creative world is facing a new frontier, and it's all about the rise of AI tools that are shaking up the realms of 2D and 3D design, image generation, illustrations, videos… you name it. Some people see these tech wonders as creative boosters, while others are still scratching their heads, wondering how this transformation will shake up their creative mojo and artistic identity.
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#Soul tech
In the ring
Alright, check this out! Grab like 4 or 5 pairs of woolly gloves lying around your place and throw 'em all on. Or, if you're feeling fancy, boxing gloves will do the trick too.
Now, try wiggling those fingers of yours. Tricky, huh? It's like trying to play the piano with oven mitts on!
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#Soul tech
Digital disability
It's time to stop complaining about everything related to technology and the digital divide and roll up our sleeves to finally tackle this issue that poses inequality in our society.
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#Soul tech
Soaring Through the Clouds
Have you ever wanted to surf the Internet through a “mini you?” The promise of a future metaverse will allow you to create a miniature version of yourself that does things for you – with all that this entails, of course.
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#Soul tech
This is How the Metaverse Will Revolutionize Education
Thanks to the different articles that you’ve seen in this magazine, you probably now have a better notion of what the metaverse is, how technology still needs to evolve and extend, and of the fact that, currently, the metaverse is not just a trending topic, but instead is getting closer and closer to being a reality.
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#Soul tech
Symbiosis in a Quantum Metaverse
I like to read books on paper, and I no longer have a television in the kitchen. The former, I admit, is perhaps due to my “older gentleman” spirit. However, the latter is simply because, for some time now, we’ve been watching YouTube on the tablet at my house at dinner time.
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#Soul tech
“The metaverse is the world that we already have, but transformed and reconverted” - Roberto Romero
Roberto Romero, Senior Creative Technologist working at Accenture Song’s Metaverse Continuum Business Group.
Wearing a Goonies t-shirt and with a VR controller in hand, Roberto Romero is a kid from the 80s who was a fan of video games and managed to turn his passion for immersive content into his job. As Senior Creative Technologist on Accenture Song’s metaverse team, his mission is to bring this new world closer to people with the help of a magic formula: technology and creativity. We caught up with him to find out what drives him and to learn about his view of the metaverse.
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#Soul tech
Succeed or Die Trying
In 1989 video game designer Will Wright decided to launch an urban growth simulator with which anyone could create, manage, and develop their own city, facing social, demographic, ecological, and even weather problems. And they called this a “game?” That’s right. The initial idea sounded more like a lot of work for architecture students than a video game. But, against all odds, and very much against industry trends, the first edition of SimCity was a success.
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#Soul tech
From the loafer to the nerd, from the roots (STEM) to the flowers (STEAM)
We played Taboo on December 25, 2022 (thanks, Olentzero). With the pressure of the ticking clock, I picked up a card and looked at the word: “scientist.” “Taboo” words that I can’t say: “invention,” “science,” “experiment,” and “laboratory.” It’s not so easy. TICK TOCK. “Lab coat, study,” TICK TOCK. “Older gentleman, beard, disheveled hair.” You answer, “Scientist!” “Right.” And yet, we’ve both lost the game.
That would be the (perhaps perpetuated) description of a scientist given by a high school student in 1957 (Mead and Metraux, 1957).
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#Soul tech
Where are the women?
A woman walks into a technology conference and asks: “Have you seen any other women?” “No, but I’d like to,” I answer. In the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), women are uncommon. At universities, despite the fact that women are the majority in the Life and Health Sciences (around 70%), when we look at STEM as a whole, the division by gender is uneven (with 35% women).
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#Soul tech
From what perspective do you look at technology?
In 1959 engineer Nils Bohlin invented a technology that saves millions of lives each year: the three-point seat belt. Volvo released the patent so that other manufacturers could use the design, making it a virtually universal standard for automobiles. But Bohlin overlooked a small detail: that the person behind the wheel could be pregnant. And it’s not that there weren’t female drivers at that time. In fact, the first person to drive a car a long distance (106 km in 12 hours) was Bertha Benz, in 1888, an automotive industry pioneer and the inventor of the brake pad.
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#Soul tech
Listening to understand
It is 2023, and games like League of Legends and Fortnite are mainstays of leisure in society. Multiplayer games (video games in which more than one person can participate in the action) are a favorite pastime for everyone, whether they generally like video games or not. Who hasn’t spent entire afternoons playing Mario Kart (which never gets old) with their family?
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#Soul tech
The role of women in innovative entrepreneurship: A gender perspective?
“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy”.
- Marie Curie
Who said women can’t work in science or be entrepreneurs?
If we turn to the great legacy left to us by one of the greatest female scientific leaders of the twentieth century, Marie Curie, we could say that she paved a way for women to undertake careers in science, as she was able to juggle her family and professional lives. And, with great dedication and commitment, she was able to make a change in the scientific paradigm.
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#Soul tech
It's about time!
I just received a letter; it seems that I’m going to be given a prize, the Pioneer Award, at age 83. I guess it’s because of that patent for secure wireless communications that expired without ever being used. 55 years have gone by since then, and there are many technological breakthroughs that have arisen as a result of my patent – all without naming me or George, my friend and the invention’s co-creator. It’s about time!
Take our advice and check it out
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How Could We…
#Reflections
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GovTech: Redesigning the Government
#Reflections
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Digital Spaces for Democracy: Osoigo's Proposal
#Tech bay