The World Wide Web is a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents.” Thus ran the description of the very first webpage – written 25 years ago this week. Today, you almost undoubtedly get what it means, but a quarter of a century ago you might have guessed “hypermedia” to be a switch on the bridge of the starship Enterprise. How times have changed.
And indeed, what monumental changes the internet and web have brought. What started as a way to organise and share scientific data has grown into one of the most astonishing and essential inventions of the modern world. Even the idea that there were no websites earlier than 25 years ago seems amazing – for most people born after 1990, the internet has always been there, part of the fabric of existence.
The web has altered so much of daily life, sometimes in obvious ways – the music industry, for example, has been completely transformed. Other elements are less obvious, although they are just as profound. Perhaps even more so.
Among these is the way business treats people. Marketing used to be about finding pockets of potential customers and blasting advertising at them as a group. Today, it is about targeting individuals for a particular brand of marmalade, for instance, based on some complicated, arcane tracking of their habits. Now imagine doing this for every single one of the seven billion people with access to the internet. That’s a mighty powerful tool. To put it in more straightforward terms: people were once seen only as customers – today they are products as well.
Our data, our habits, the websites we visit, how long we spend there, where else we go online, all of these are precious pieces of information that companies mine, aggregrate, research and then sell on. And as the use of the internet has moved to mobile devices, that amount of information has exploded commensurately.
The sum of our lives in the past might be said to equal the collection of faded pictures in a photo album. Today, we still have photos, but they are digital. More importantly, every aspect of our lives has been rendered into data that can be sliced up, joined together or served in any number of ways. And as data, we are as much products to be hawked as the things we buy. After all, how else does Amazon know you need an espresso maker?
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)