Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: Changing China

by Tobias Thornes A wide and enticing country brews, always, just beyond our western comprehension, like a cauldron of constant change the taste of whose broth we never can be sure. Such is the allure of tantalising China: a rich civilisation veiled behind a mist of mystery. And I, like so many awe-stricken adventurers, am […]

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Comment, Prose

The War on Encryption

by Sam Wilkinson ‘We’re off; We’re starting’ This SMS message signalled the start of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the people of Paris. That night in November, seven terrorists claimed 130 innocent lives in an act of abject barbarism that shocked the world. This brutality was swiftly followed by a heated media discussion […]

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Comment, Prose

Computer Literacy: It’s Not What You Think

by Sam Wilkinson Software, in its many forms, has utterly devoured modern life. The ubiquity of digital automation in today’s world cannot be overstated, and there are few hints that the relentless progress of technology will abate any time soon. Many students will be acutely aware that this has led to generic ‘computer literacy’ becoming […]

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Comment, Prose

Net Neutrality: Saving the Internet

by Sam Wilkinson The first video ever uploaded to YouTube didn’t offer much of a hint as to the future  popularity of the platform, although it did predict the style of its many successors. ‘Me at the zoo’ stars YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, who offers his thoughts on the elephants at the San Diego Zoo, […]

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Comment, Prose

Computer Literacy: What is it and How can I get one?

by Elizabeth Stell & George Prew How often have you found that ‘computer literacy’ is a requirement for this or that internship? How often have you written on your CV that you possess this skill, or at least some of its aspects? And yet everyone has a different view on what ‘computer literacy’ really means. […]

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Culture, Prose

The Observed Self

by Peter Gent My MacBook stares at me, one eye open, but seemingly not awake. Once it did awake, unexpected, and its green eye burned as it judged me. Panicked, I jumped up, trying to hide from its gaze, unsure if I was fully clothed. I realised a moment later that it was just FaceTime […]

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Prose

Narcissus: A Digital Translation

by Jacob Warn Born in the 90s, companies of men adored him even before puberty. Siri prophesied longevity: and didn’t he know it, as he watched it on his own fair skin, white blushed with the blood-red digits of his own heartbeat. A heart throb. A nymphomaniac unto himself, himself unto nymphs. The light down […]

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Comment, Diary, Prose

Slow Travel: Paris in the Morning

by Tobias Thornes ‘Could I have your number, please?’ said the young woman behind the desk. Her hands hovered over her keyboard in anticipation. ‘My number? What number?’ I asked, feeling somewhat perplexed. After all, it was getting late in the evening and the weariness of a long day’s travelling lay upon me. ‘Your telephone […]

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Comment, Prose

Arts and Science: A False Dichotomy?

by Sophie Barnes In 1959, the British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow, in his book The Two Cultures and the Scientific Divide, famously bemoaned the division between art and science in western intellectual society. He expressed how he felt intellectuals in the arts would express their ‘incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists’ at social events (I […]

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