Windows 10 is invading privacy, the pirates wrote on Thursday in a letter, which the news agency sda has obtained, to the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Hanspeter Thür. Windows 10 sucks up data from users and automatically shares it with the software manufacturer. The latter in turn passes the data on to third parties, such as advertising companies. Users must be able to decide whether they want to pass on their data. Such consent - a so-called "opt-in" - can be given, for example, by placing a check mark in the settings. The Pirate Party is hoping for clarity on several points from Thür. For example, the data protector should list which personal data is passed on to whom, where it is stored and for how long. In addition, Thür would have to check whether users are properly informed about the use of their data. (SDA)

The 34-year-old from Zurich has been a regular on TV shows, events and theater stages for many years and has successfully established herself as an SRF presenter in recent years. Viola Tami has already proven during the third season of "DGST" that she has the necessary experience to present "Switzerland's Greatest Talents". Sven Sarbach, Head of Show and Events: "Viola Tami is a talented presenter: she really impressed us and her fresh and eloquent way of presenting was very well received by the audience."

Viola Tami will accompany the "DGST" candidates from the jury recordings at Theater 11 in Zurich to the live shows in Kreuzlingen as host. And: like the four judges, she is now allowed to press the golden buzzer once to send a talent straight through to the semi-finals. Viola Tami: "A little warning to the jury: I can run very fast! If you want to get ahead of me, you have to decide quickly." The application phase for the candidates is underway. The exact broadcast dates and the jury will be announced at a later date.

Whether young politicians or incumbent members of the National Council, everyone has the chance to present themselves to the viewers of TeleBärn and to vigorously beat the advertising drum in their own cause. Viewers can now vote online on whether to be or not to be a politician. Telebaern.tv/nationalcouncil have their say. The 20 candidates with the most votes from the public will participate in a half-hour election talk show on TeleBärn, which will be broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 6:20 p.m. starting September 8. In addition to voting, the distribution of the starting places will also take into account the previous party strength.

Since the beginning of the week, over 70 videos have already been published. This has resulted in a number of voluntarily and unintentionally funny contributions. For example, National Councillor Heinz Siegenthaler (BDP) poses with a "Rüebli", Corrado Pardini (SP) swings the wooden spoon and Grand Councillor Erich Hess (SVP) goes swimming. Tele Bärn accompanies the course of the candidate voting in the news and in focus. The winners will be announced on Friday, August 28.

Christer Clerwall (Karlstad University, Sweden) presented a total of 45 test subjects with texts that had been generated partly by computers and partly by journalists. Respondents rated the machine-generated texts as slightly "more informative," "more accurate," "more trustworthy," and "more objective," but also "more boring," while the journalists scored high on "coherence," "clarity," and "reading pleasure" - but overall these differences were "not significant."

Hille van der Kaa and Emiel Krahmer (both Tilburg University in the Netherlands) specifically investigated the credibility of "robot" texts and surveyed 232 Dutch people, including 64 journalists. Interestingly, the ordinary citizens surveyed gave computers and journalists equally good marks in terms of credibility and expertise. Only the journalists attested more trustworthiness to their own profession than to their robot colleagues. But this is probably only the tip of the iceberg. In times when there are already four to five PR people for every journalist in the U.S., selecting from the media releases supplied is even more important than writing articles. Algorithms are also increasingly taking over this selection in search engines and social networks, and media experts such as Caitlin Dewey (Washington Post) and Walter Quattrociocchi (Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca) are worried that our view of the world could become very one-sided in this way - simply because the algorithms only provide us with what we want to know, and not what we should know.

Nikki Usher (George Washington University), however, gives the all-clear. In her view, the problem of "selective perception," i.e., the fact that we prefer to consume media offerings that confirm our prejudices, is and remains our problem as media users and not that of the search engines and social networks that supply us with information. Their algorithms are much more complex than the Cassandra callers generally make them out to be. For example, the Google News algorithm favors certain news items, such as those provided by large editorial departments like The New York Times, or offers that contain more context, for example in the form of original quotes, or even particularly current news. In principle, the people responsible for Google News would strive to offer the "best possible news selection" in a similar way to professional journalists - only with the help of algorithms that respond to user interests.

Critics often overlook what "algorithms that filter news have in common with conventional news selection processes": "For a long time, newsrooms were also something like 'black boxes' - staffed by journalists who decided on the top stories of the day behind impenetrable walls." Nonetheless, of course, the door remains open for manipulation and remote control when giant corporations like Google or Facebook decide centrally on the use of algorithms - and can thus program worldwide what Chen Cheng in Singapore, John Sixpack in Tennessee and Mrs. Hinz and Mr. Kunz in Appenzeller Land get to see, hear and read. Nor do we necessarily share the optimism of some researchers that the use of robots in newsrooms could free up resources for more important tasks such as research. Clerwall sees it more realistically as "a way for media companies to save on staff."

For quite some time, there has been a twilight of the gods in editorial offices: For decades, journalists were used to reporting only on the unemployment of others without being affected by it themselves. Since the turn of the century, at the latest, this has changed thoroughly. Computer programs and algorithms are likely to dramatically accelerate job losses in editorial departments once again - and then presumably not even stop at the editorial suppliers, the PR industry.

Stephan Russ-Mohl directs the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano.

Literature tips:

Christer Clerwall (2014): Enter the Robot Journalist, in Journalism Practice 8:5, 519-531. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17512786.2014.883116?journalCode=rjop20#.VZJDR6QwKH4

Hille van der Kaa/Emiel Krahmer (2014): Journalist versus news consumer: The perceived credibility of machine written news, Tilburg University. https://pure.uvt.nl/portal/files/4314960/cj2014_session4_paper2.pdf

Caitlin Dewey (2015): http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/06/03/if-you-use-facebook-to-get-your-news-please-for-the-love-of-democracy-read-this-first/

Nikki Usher (2015): Who's afraid of a big bad algorithm? In: Columbia Journalism Review,.June 11,http://www.cjr.org/analysis/whos_afraid_of_a_big_bad_algorithm.php

In his recently published environmental encyclical "Laudato si", Pope Francis calls for a drastic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in view of climate change. Translated to Reformed Zurich, this means: It pays to change trams. After all, a single streetcar lane carries the same number of people as five car lanes. And one person in a streetcar causes 13 times less CO2 emissions than one person in a car (with average occupancy). A fitting occasion for Ruf Lanz to offer the streetcar as a papamobile to the environmentally conscious Pope when he comes to Zurich one day. The latest subject of the award-winning VBZ campaign is currently appearing in 20 Minuten as well as in online applications.

Responsible at VBZ: Heinz Vögeli (Head of Corporate Communications). Responsible at Ruf Lanz: Markus Ruf, Danielle Lanz (Creative Direction), Marcel Schläfle (Art Direction), Dave Schellenberg (Graphics), Markus Ruf (Text), Tanja Felix, Pascal Trütsch (Consulting). Photography: Archive. Image processing: Dave Schellenberg.
 

"The name comes from the director's row in the theater. Row 6-8, where the director sits and takes a very close look," says Dani von Wattenwyl, presenter of the program. With the new magazine, Telebasel viewers can find out which films are being released in Basel cinemas and how the filming went. Karin Müller, Editor-in-Chief of Telebasel: "It is important to us to present new films in the region and to integrate an additional voice from the audience with the Telebasel cinema reporter." The first broadcast of "Reihe 8" will take place on August 20, 2015 at 6:15 pm. The film magazine will be broadcast fortnightly on Thursdays at 6:15 pm and repeated every hour from 8:30 pm.

Many people only know Home24 from advertising. Although the online furniture store is now also available in Germany. Whether this speaks for the quality of the advertising or against the quality of the retailer remains to be seen. The fact is: Home24 campaigns always stand out positively. They all have two things in common. Firstly, they are funny. Secondly, they take shots at traditional furniture stores. "Furniture is no longer bought in the middle of nowhere, but conveniently online" was the slogan in 2012 - a "homage" to the distant highway exits where most large furniture stores are located.
 

The man who is in the endless self-collection halls from Ikea got lost and was only found years later, completely neglected (Werbewoche.ch reported) is still flickering across TV screens in Switzerland. "Life had to go on... and Home24 was our salvation".

And the new poster campaign, which has been on display since this week and was created by the Berlin agency Plantage, also makes it clear why it is better to buy furniture from the comfort of your own home instead of going to the big Swedish furniture store. The idea of adapting Ikea instructions for your own purposes is nothing new. But here the implementation is once again refreshingly successful. (hae)

Germans, Austrians and Swiss are world vacation champions. Wherever they go on vacation and spend money, their language is also very popular. There are German courses or German-language tourism courses for prospective hotel employees and special newspapers or magazines in German for vacation guests. Of the more than 2,000 German-language publications outside the German-speaking area, more than 180 are mainly aimed at German, Austrian and Swiss holidaymakers. In addition, there are around 35 radio programs and two smaller television offerings for travelers. In addition to these specialized media, there are of course many more in German that report in a more general way, but occasionally also offer articles and sections for tourists.

Björn Akstinat, Head of IMH: "The most vacation media, namely around 100 publications and radio programs, are understandably to be found in Spain. This is followed at some distance by the Czech Republic, Poland, Thailand, Italy, Portugal, the United States and Turkey. But countries such as Costa Rica, Iceland, Namibia and Cyprus also offer German-language tourist media. Even Tunisia broadcasts a daily radio program especially for guests from the north."

The best-known foreign newspapers are undoubtedly Mallorca-Magazin, founded in 1971, and Mallorca-Zeitung, founded in 2000. They have both been on the market for a very long time because they are backed by major Spanish publishers. They are read by short-term tourists and "permanent vacationers" who are already registered on Mallorca. Around 30,000 German speakers now live on the island permanently. Some of them were born there. Slowly but surely, a new minority of Germans, Swiss and Austrians is emerging in the Mediterranean with its own culture and infrastructure.

Most media are managed by native or German-born editors-in-chief. But Swiss people have also ventured into self-employment abroad. These include Joe Schacher from Canaren-Express in Tenerife and Martin Rüegsegger from the Thai magazine Der Farang. Under his leadership, Rüegsegger's magazine has achieved an impressive circulation of around 7,000 copies.

Florida was the birthplace of around ten new German-language vacation publications in the 1990s. Of these, only the magazine "Florida Sun", which can also be bought at newsstands in Europe, has survived to this day. However, it is not without competition, as a new newspaper was recently launched in German: The SunState Post.

The magazine Scotland from Edinburgh is also new. It was founded by Nicola de Paoli, a former employee of the Financial Times Deutschland, who moved to the capital of the "breakaway" region of Great Britain for family reasons. Her magazine is the first major printed source of information and guidance for travelers to Scotland. The summer issue includes a report on the "Harry Potter" railroad in the Highlands, tips on emigrating and a richly illustrated story on old smugglers' trails through the Speyside whisky region.

The most distant tourist publication is the newspaper New Zealand News on the other side of the world. It has been published by Gerhard Uster for almost 20 years and is Kiwiland's most important news and advertising medium in German. Uster explains: "New Zealand is becoming increasingly popular as a travel destination and the Swiss can of course find information much more easily and quickly via our newspaper and our internet portal than via foreign-language media."

Newspapers, magazines and radio programs aimed primarily at tourists are the most booming sector of the German-language media scene abroad. The number of tourist media is constantly increasing. Even though some are disappearing, the total number is increasing due to numerous new start-ups. If you want to know which publication or radio program is published or broadcast near your vacation destination, you can get free information around the clock at [email protected].

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internationale Medienhilfe (IMH) is the association of German-language newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs abroad. For over 20 years, it has been advising media makers, supporting media start-ups and placing Swiss students as interns with its member media. The internship placement program set up by the IMH is now the largest in the media sector.

The magazines Bolero and Bolero Men from the Ringier media house become new national titles, replacing Edelweiss and L'HebdoMen in French-speaking Switzerland (Werbewoche.ch reported). According to the press release, Bolero has been completely revamped and aims to present itself in a new, contemporary, elegant and inviting way. The focus remains on fashion and beauty in the luxury segment, alongside the second shear point of culture (art and travel).

The Bolero edition for men, Bolero Men, also gets a new look. The spectrum of content ranges from fashion to accessories to technical gadgets. Of course, personalities from sports, culture and film also find their place.

Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm, who, in addition to being editor-in-chief of SI Style, is now also responsible for Bolero: "The new concept concentrates on Bolero's core competencies - which are fashion and culture at the highest level. The expansion of the magazines' content and geography is an exciting aspect for our advertising customers - they can thus reach an even broader target group on a national level than before."

The first issue in the new design will appear in German-speaking Switzerland on August 12, 2015, and the first Bolero in French-speaking Switzerland on August 26. Bolero Men will be on newsstands in German-speaking Switzerland from September 2 and in French-speaking Switzerland from September 9.
 

AZ Nordwestschweiz's existing apps are being replaced by new, dedicated news and e-paper apps. Smartphone and tablet users can now find out more quickly and individually about regional, national and international topics from politics, business, sports and culture and benefit from the device-optimized layout. Sharing functions allow articles to be shared via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, e-mail, SMS and more. All eight daily newspapers of AZ Nordwestschweiz will receive their own e-paper and news app. The apps are available for iOS in the App Store and now also for Android on Google Play.

The new, news-only app now offers settings options such as customizable coverage of the favored region, a chronological timeline for a quick overview of all the day's news, more live reports, and, as before, comprehensive commentary and reader reporter functions.

On request, readers of "az Nordwestschweiz" can receive surveys directly on their Apple Watch and immediately give their opinion. The Apple Watch thus becomes the new pulse monitor of Northwestern Switzerland. The news app is free of charge.

The new dedicated e-paper app offers quick access to current or older newspaper editions from all regions of AZ Northwestern Switzerland. The week's issues can be accessed in bundled form in the e-newspaper kiosk. Single issues and subscriptions are available in the e-paper app. Existing subscribers can log in with their login and benefit from the full offer.

The highest court has ruled that the original condition must be restored. It thus confirms the decision of the Valais Cantonal Court. The latter had already stated in its ruling that a building permit should have been applied for to "put up" such advertising in the agricultural zone. The lettering is located in an area that is under special protection due to its design with meter-high dry stone walls. In addition, the lettering is visible from the Rhone Valley. The municipality of Sion is concerned that the wine merchant's action will encourage imitations. The Federal Court considers this to be understandable.

Like the lower court, it comes to the conclusion that also a subsequent building permit for the selected precisely performed maintenance work cannot be granted. Also, a restoration of the original condition is not disproportionate. How the clean stones can be restored to their weathered condition remains open in the Federal Court's ruling. What is clear is that the lettering was still clearly visible a year and a half after its completion. (SDA/hae)