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The limited rollout in Austin, Texas, included pro-Tesla influencers using the paid ride serviceThe main transportation safety regulator in the US is requesting information from Tesla after videos showed the company's self-driving Robotaxis exceeding the speed limit or veering into the wrong lane. The company launched the service in Austin, Texas, over the weekend.Tesla heavily promoted the initial, limited rollout of its Robotaxis, which included pro-Tesla influencers using the paid ride service and showing off footage of their trips. Instead of positive promotion, though, those videos appear to have drawn scrutiny from the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA), as the cars struggled to comply with traffic laws. Continue reading...

After a video calling a can of Diet Coke a fridge cigarette' went viral, people have been discussing how they find moments of relief amid the pressures of workName: Fridge cigarette.Age: As a thing, not so new, but the term has only really been knocking about for a few weeks, since a user called @reallyrachelreno posted a video. Continue reading...

The legendary video game designer discusses directing actors in LA from Japan, how Mad Max inspired his career and the unique reason why he wants to go to spaceHideo Kojima - the acclaimed video game director who helmed the stealth-action Metal Gear series for decades before founding his own company to make Death Stranding, a supernatural post-apocalyptic delivery game this publication described as 2019's most interesting blockbuster" - is still starstruck, or perhaps awestruck. George [Miller] is my sensei, my God," he proclaims gleefully.Kojima is visiting Australia for a sold-out chat with Miller, the creator of the Mad Max film franchise, at the Sydney film festival. The two struck up an unlikely but fierce friendship nearly a decade ago, and Kojima says that, as a teenager, the first two Mad Max films inspired him to become a movie director and thus, eventually, a video game maker. At the panel later, Miller is equally effusive, calling Kojima almost my brother"; the Australian even lent his appearance to a major character in Kojima's latest game, Death Stranding 2. Continue reading...

Introduction of dynamic pricing' algorithm also coincided with company raising trip prices, study finds

The magnitude of Meta's investment in Scale may seem like command of the AI race, but the company's playing catchupMark Zuckerberg announced in April that the company would make huge capital expenditures in the coming year to keep up in the race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence. He made good on that promise last week with a $15bn AI superintelligence" team that would feature reported nine-figure salaries and a 49% investment in Scale AI. Meta also hired Scale's 28-year-old founder, Alexandr Wang, a former roommate of OpenAI's Sam Altman.Before Meta's investment, Scale counted most of the major players in AI among its clients, and some of them were less than thrilled with the development. Bloomberg puts it succinctly: Scale AI's Wang Brings to Meta Knowledge of What Everyone Else is Doing. Google, Scale's largest customer, got scared. The tech giant told the startup that their working relationship would end in response to the deal, Reuters reported on Friday.Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AIDisney and Universal sue AI image creator Midjourney, alleging copyright infringementHey AI! Can ChatGPT help you to manage your money?Researchers create AI-based tool that restores age-damaged artworks in hoursKeir Starmer says technology can create a better future' as he addresses AI fearsMisinformation about LA Ice protests swirls online: Catnip for rightwing agitators'US immigration agency flies drones capable of surveillance over LA protestsSoftware used in surveillance of immigrants has deep ties to the LAPD Continue reading...

Is working in big tech halal? Muslim workers are reckoning with the possibility that their jobs go against their religious obligationsBefore Ibtihal Aboussad was fired by Microsoft for protesting the company's work with the Israeli military during a celebration of the firm's 50th anniversary, she sent two emails.The first went to all of her colleagues. She appealed to their universal humanity and urged them to stand against Microsoft's contracts to provide cloud computing software and artificial intelligence products to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Continue reading...

Ruling follows two cases blighted by actual or suspected use of artificial intelligence in legal work

If they don't broker a peace deal, their squabble could get messier and more expensive for both of them

From excellence to genius | Effortlessly superb | Time flies | Describing misogyny | Unwanted AmericanismsI note that you have changed the achievement levels of your Word Wheel puzzle in the print edition, expanding from three (average, good and excellent) to five (beginner, good, brilliant, superb and genius). I appreciate the promotion from excellence to genius that this implies, but tend to the opinion that you have overestimated my abilities, which I suspect to be no better than superb, and on some days merely brilliant. Also, I am surprised at the paltry target that you have set for beginners. If you can't make more than one word from nine letters, you are not a beginner at Word Wheel, but at basic literacy.

Is artificial intelligence coming for everyone's jobs? Not if this lot have anything to do with itThe novelist Ewan Morrison was alarmed, though amused, to discover he had written a book called Nine Inches Pleases a Lady. Intrigued by the limits of generative artificial intelligence (AI), he had asked ChatGPT to give him the names of the 12 novels he had written. I've only written nine," he says. Always eager to please, it decided to invent three." The nine inches" from the fake title it hallucinated was stolen from a filthy Robert Burns poem. I just distrust these systems when it comes to truth," says Morrison. He is yet to write Nine Inches - or its sequel, Eighteen Inches", he laughs. His actual latest book, For Emma, imagining AI brain-implant chips, is about the human costs of technology.Morrison keeps an eye on the machines, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, and their capabilities, but he refuses to use them in his own life and work. He is one of a growing number of people who are actively resisting: people who are terrified of the power of generative AI and its potential for harm and don't want to feed the beast; those who have just decided that it's a bit rubbish, and more trouble than it's worth; and those who simply prefer humans to robots. Continue reading...

After nearly 16 years the veteran standup comic is calling time on the show that redefined podcastingIt's the end of an era: Marc Maron has announced that he's ending his popular and influential podcast WTF with Marc Maron after nearly 16 years and more than 1,600 episodes. The final episode will be released later this year.Sixteen years we've been doing this, and we've decided that we had a great run," Maron says on Monday's episode. Basically, it's time, folks. It's time. WTF is coming to an end. It's our decision. We'll have our final episode sometime in the fall." Continue reading...

Move sends shock waves through traditional media industry by posing threat to advertising agencies

Slinging bodies into a pickup as Kovalsky in Crime Scene Cleaner reminded me of Greg Davies in The Cleaner - there is something grimly satisfying about death's aftermathLately I've been playing a new job sim game, Crime Scene Cleaner, while also watching BBC's comedy series The Cleaner, both of which focus on the aftermath of gruesome murders - sometimes you just need some cosy viewing to take the edge off the day. In the TV show, Greg Davies plays Wicky, the acerbic employee of a government-endorsed clean-up company, while Crime Scene Cleaner's lead character Kovalsky is a lowly janitor, mopping up blood and disposing of trash to cover up for a mob boss named Big Jim.The crime scenes in both are laughably over the top. Or are they? I've never actually seen a real-life murder scene, so perhaps copious blood sprayed over walls and ceilings and the masses of broken furniture is completely normal. Continue reading...

Sir Jony Ive indicates unease over impact of modern technology amid tie-up with ChatGPT developerThe designer of the iPhone has promised his next artificial intelligence-enabled device will be driven by a sense that humanity deserves better", after admitting feeling responsibility" for some of the negative consequences of modern technology.Sir Jony Ive said his new partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, would renew his optimism about technology, amid widespread concerns about the impact of smartphones and social media. Continue reading...

About 50 investors will put up $1.5bn in private placement for common shares in the Truth Social operatorDonald Trump's media company said on Tuesday that institutional investors will buy $2.5bn worth of its stock, with the proceeds going to build up a bitcoin reserve.About 50 institutional investors will put up $1.5bn in the private placement for common shares in Trump Media and Technology Group, the operator of Truth Social and other companies, and another $1bn for convertible senior notes, according to an announcement from the company. Continue reading...

European Commission alleges age verification systems are ineffective in preventing under-18s from watchingThe EU executive has launched an investigation into four pornographic websites over alleged failure to prevent children from seeing adult content.After analysis of company policies, the European Commission accused Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos of failing to have effective age verification measures to stop minors accessing their content. Continue reading...

The untested hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony IveOpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker's biggest acquisition yet. The hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone. Ive and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making.A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition," they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices. Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs." Continue reading...

Comments from Jensen Huang come as Beijing accuses the US of bullying and protectionism'US chip exports controls have been a failure", the head of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, told a tech forum on Wednesday, as the Chinese government separately slammed US warnings to other countries against using Chinese tech.Successive US administrations have imposed restrictions on the sale of hi-tech AI chips to China, in an effort to curb China's military advancement and protect US dominance of the AI industry. But Huang told the Computex tech forum in Taipei that the controls had instead spurred on Chinese developers. Continue reading...

Researchers say threat from jailbroken' chatbots trained to churn out illegal information is tangible and concerning'Hacked AI-powered chatbots threaten to make dangerous knowledge readily available by churning out illicit information the programs absorb during training, researchers say.The warning comes amid a disturbing trend for chatbots that have been jailbroken" to circumvent their built-in safety controls. The restrictions are supposed to prevent the programs from providing harmful, biased or inappropriate responses to users' questions. Continue reading...

From Elon Musk to his own board, anyone who has come up against the OpenAI CEO has lost. In a gripping new account of the battle for AI supremacy, writer Karen Hao says we should all be wary of the power he now wieldsThe short-lived firing of Sam Altman, the CEO of possibly the world's most important AI company, was sensational. When he was sacked by OpenAI's board members, some of them believed the stakes could not have been higher - the future of humanity - if the organisation continued under Altman. Imagine Succession, with added apocalypse vibes. In early November 2023, after three weeks of secret calls and varying degrees of paranoia, the OpenAI board agreed: Altman had to go.The drama didn't stop there. After his removal, Altman's most loyal staff resigned, and others signed an open letter calling for his reinstatement. Investors, including its biggest, Microsoft, got spooked. Without talent or funding, OpenAI - which developed ChatGPT and was worth billions - wouldn't even exist. Some who had been involved in the decision to fire Altman switched sides and within days, he was reinstated. Is he now untouchable? Certainly he has entrenched his power," says Karen Hao, the tech journalist whose new book, Empire of AI, details this saga in a tense and absorbing history of OpenAI. The current board is much more allied with his interests," she says. Continue reading...

Search engine revamp and Gemini 2.5 introduced at conference in latest showing tech giant is all in on AIGoogle on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of internet traffic to other websites.The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new AI mode" option in the United States. The company says the feature will make interacting with its search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering a wide array of questions. Continue reading...

Protester is engineer who worked on Azure software, which enabled Israeli surveillance of PalestiniansA Microsoft employee disrupted a keynote speech by the company's chief executive with a pro-Palestinian protest at the company's annual developer conference on Monday.Joe Lopez, a Microsoft firmware engineer who worked on parts of the company's cloud-computing platform, Azure, was escorted out the Build conference by security nearly immediately after he confronted Satya Nadella. Continue reading...

The lure of a limitless digital jukebox was great, but as the algorithm increasingly served up music I didn't enjoy, I've taken back control of my listeningWhen most people were comparing how many times they had listened to Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx and Fontaines DC on Spotify Wrapped last December, I had to make do with Burger King Unwrapped, delivered to me via their app, which told me how many Burger Kings I'd eaten that year (a solitary Whopper meal in July). You see, I've stopped streaming music, which, in this modern day and age, seems frankly weird. But hear me out. I've gone back to buying CDs, and it's made me fall in love with music all over again.I listen to music all day, every day. I can't work without music in the background, or consider doing the washing up without some tunes to groove to. Traditionally, I'd buy albums on CDs or vinyl, and listen to them over and over until I was bored to death with them, by which time I'd hopefully have bought another album. It's apparently a very annoying habit: as a student (way before the days of Spotify), one housemate was so utterly exasperated with me blasting Urban Hymns by the Verve around the house that they barged into my room, ejected the CD and flung it out the window. Continue reading...

xAI's Grok bot repeatedly referred to widely discredited claim about South Africa that has been touted by Donald TrumpElon Musk's artificial intelligence company has blamed an unauthorised modification" for a glitch in its Grok chatbot that resulted in the tool ranting about white genocide" in South Africa.In a post on Musk's X platform, xAI said new measures would be brought in to ensure its employees cannot modify the bot's behaviour without extra oversight. Continue reading...

Strictly Limited/Giants Software; Mega Drive

Agreement that would give Gulf country better access to advanced AI chips raises concerns over Chinese influenceThe United Arab Emirates and the United States have signed an agreement for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the US, one of several deals around AI made during Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East.But the agreement has also raised concerns, since it would have faced restrictions under the previous administration over Washington's fears that China could access the technology. Continue reading...

Then 23-year-old Jai Clapp was added to the girl's Snapchat using the Quick Add feature as part of an informal competition with a friend to reach 100,000 points

Big tech companies have exploited human language for AI gain. Now they want us to see their products as trustworthy collaboratorsAfter publishing my third book in early April, I kept encountering headlines that made me feel like the protagonist of some Black Mirror episode. Vauhini Vara consulted ChatGPT to help craft her new book Searches,'" one of them read. To tell her own story, this acclaimed novelist turned to ChatGPT," said another. Vauhini Vara examines selfhood with assistance from ChatGPT," went a third.The publications describing Searches this way were reputable and fact-based. But their descriptions of my book - and of ChatGPT's role in it - didn't match my own reading. It was true that I had put my ChatGPT conversations in the book, but my goal had been critique, not collaboration. In interviews and public events, I had repeatedly cautioned against using large language models such as the ones behind ChatGPT for help with self-expression. Had these headline writers misunderstood what I'd written? Had I? Continue reading...

The man who brought Tetris to the west reveals what the movie of his life got right and wrong, how he influenced Nintendo, and why he has now swapped gaming for climate change campaigningWhen game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers first encountered Tetris at the 1988 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, he immediately knew it was special. It was just the perfect game," he recalls. It looked so simple, so rudimentary, but I wanted to play it again and again and again ... There was no other game demo that ever did that to me."Rogers is now co-owner of the Tetris Company, which manages and licenses the Tetris brand. Over the past 30 years, he has become almost as famous as the game itself. The escapades surrounding his deal to buy its distribution rights from Russian agency Elektronorgtechnica (Elorg) were dramatised in an Apple TV+ film starring Taron Egerton. I suggested that Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves should play me, but apparently they were way too old," Rogers says. Continue reading...

CrowdStrike CEO announces 5% of workforce to be slashed globally, citing artificial intelligence efficiencies created in the businessThe cybersecurity company that became a household name after causing a massive global IT outage last year has announced it will cut 5% of its workforce in part due to AI efficiency".In a note to staff earlier this week, released in stock market filings in the US, CrowdStrike's chief executive, George Kurtz, announced that 500 positions, or 5% of its workforce, would be cut globally, citing AI efficiencies created in the business. Continue reading...

Company referred to policy for restricting content when governments say material goes against local law'Meta has banned a prominent Muslim news page on Instagram in India at the government's request, the account's founder said on Wednesday, denouncing the move as censorship" as hostilities escalate between India and Pakistan.Instagram users in India trying to access posts from the handle @Muslim - a page with 6.7 million followers - were met with a message stating: Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content." Continue reading...

They are mocked by gen Z for everything from their trainer socks to their mom jeans and selfie technique. A maligned millennial asks: how did we get here?

What's new in AI - from effects on job market to Meta's new app and ChatGPT changes - and a look at Musk's first termHello, and welcome to TechScape. I'm your host, Blake Montgomery, and this week in tech news: Trump's tariffs hit tech companies that move physical goods more than their digital-only counterparts. Two stories about AI's effect on the labor market paint a murky picture. Meta released a standalone AI app, a product it claims already has a billion users through enforced omnipresence. OpenAI dialed back an obsequious version of ChatGPT. And we look back at Elon Musk's first term. Continue reading...

Group that calls itself NoName057(16) appears to have had limited success disrupting council and other websitesA pro-Russian hacking group has claimed to have successfully targeted a range of UK websites, including local councils and the Association for Police and Crime Commissioners, during a three-day campaign.In a series of social media posts, the group calling itself NoName057(16) suggested it had made a number of websites temporarily inaccessible, although it is understood the attacks were not wholly successful. Continue reading...

Robert Frazer and James Taylor respond to an article by Jason Okundaye on phone-filming at gigsI confess that I was once one of the phone zombies whom Jason Okundaye rightfully criticises for obsessively recording concerts and performances (Do yourself, the world and me a big favour: stop phone-filming at gigs, 3 May). Eventually, however, I learned to put the phone away when I realisedthat if I was just watching through a screen, then what was the point in paying for a ticket? Imay as wellhave been sitting at acomputer at home.Perhaps the way to solve this is for concerts to have a phone window" for a few minutes halfway through, where the band pauses and poses, and rattles off 30seconds' worth of popular riffs so that everyone can get their selfies and TikToks to confirm their presence for the Facebook update. Continue reading...

Smarsh, which runs app used by Trump's former national security adviser, investigating potential security incident'The communications app used by Mike Waltz, Donald Trump's former national security adviser, says it is temporarily suspending services following a reported hack that exposed some of its potentially sensitive messages.Oregon-based Smarsh, which runs the TeleMessage app, said in an email to Reuters that it was investigating a potential security incident" and was suspending all its services out of an abundance of caution". Continue reading...

Much anticipated title was due in autumn but fans will now have to wait another year after the announcement by Rockstar GamesRockstar Games has delayed the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI until 26 May, 2026. The game had been scheduled for release this autumn, but the lack of a definite date was beginning to raise concerns within the industry.Announcing the decision via a brief post on its website, the company said: We are very sorry that this is later than you expected. The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game. Continue reading...

Luxury department store is forced to shut some systems but website and shops continue to operateHarrods has been hit by a cyber-attack, just days after Marks & Spencer and the Co-op were targeted.The luxury department store is understood to have been forced to shut down some systems, but said its website and all its stores, including the Knightsbridge flagship, H beauty and airport outlets, continued to operate. It is understood the retailer first realised it was being targeted earlier this week. Continue reading...

US press secretary criticizes e-commerce giant after report says company will inform customers how much tariffs will cost themThe White House accused Amazon of committing a hostile and political act" after a report said the e-commerce company was planning to inform customers how much Donald Trump's tariffs would cost them as they shopped.The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was responding to a report in Punchbowl News, which, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Amazon would begin displaying on its site how much the tariffs had increased the prices of individual products, breaking out the figure from the total listed price. Continue reading...

Invitations to private reception with US president fuel $TRUMP's 50% price rise and add to conflict of interest fearsThe value of Donald Trump's meme coin jumped by more than 50% on Wednesday after its official website said the coin's top 220 holders would be invited to a private gala dinner with the president on 22 May.The top 25 holders of the coin would also get an ultra-exclusive VIP reception with the president", as well as a special tour, the website said. Continue reading...

From remotely locking your phone to changing passwords, do this quickly to protect yourself and restore peace of mindSmartphones contain the entirety of our modern lives, from photos, messages and memories to credit cards, bank accounts and all life admin, so when one gets lost or stolen it can be far worse than the cost of the actual handset.Here's what to do if the worst happens. Quickly taking these steps will help protect yourself against data theft, scams and fraud, and with luck could even lead to you being reunited with your phone.Try to locate your phone with Find My on Apple or Google, if you have it turned on. You can use a browser on a computer, tablet or even a friend's phone.Remotely lock your phone using Find My and mark it as lost, which helps protect your data, blocks the use of Apple or Google Pay and can leave a message on the screen for anyone who finds it. You can also remotely erase your phone from here too.Contact your network provider and block your sim to stop thieves running up bills. Also ask it to check for any new charge to bill" activity and to disable the feature.Contact your credit card company for any cards you have stored on your phone and disable Apple or Google Pay.Report the theft to the police and give them your phone's IMEI number, which may be on the box, in your Apple or Google account or their Find My services.Contact your insurance company if you have phone cover.Change your passwords for important accounts. Start with your email account so that thieves can't gain access to your other accounts through password resets.Remove your phone from your accounts and services, which will log it out and stop thieves accessing saved details. Continue reading...

Shein says operating expenses have gone up' as both Chinese retailers also drop ad spending in USTwo of China's largest fast fashion retailers, Temu and Shein, have warned US customers that they will face price increases from next week, as Donald Trump's hefty tariffs on Chinese imports come into force.Both companies will be hit by new import levies, which will mean taxes of up to 145% being applied to Chinese goods. They will also suffer from Trump's cancellation of the de minimis" exemption, under which shipments worth less than $800 (600) could be imported duty-free. Continue reading...

New iPad has laptop-level power, reliable battery life, great video call camera and a choice of screen sizesApple's iPad Air continues to be the premium tablet to beat, with the latest version featuring a chip upgrade to keep it ahead of the pack.The new iPad Air M3 costs from 599 (699/$599/A$999) - the same as its predecessor - and comes in two sizes with either an 11in or 13in screen. It sits between the base-model 329 iPad A16 and the 999 iPad Pro M4, splitting the difference in price and features.Screen: 11in or 13in Liquid Retina display (264ppi)Processor: Apple M3 (9-core GPU)RAM: 8GBStorage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: iPadOS 18.4Camera: 12MP rear, 12MP centre stageConnectivity: Wifi 6E (5G optional eSim-only), Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, Touch ID, Smart ConnecterDimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm or 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mmWeight: 460g or 616g Continue reading...

Tech giant stepped up production and chartered cargo flights with at least six jets to ensure sufficient inventoryApple's main Indian suppliers Foxconn and Tata shipped nearly $2bn worth of iPhones to the United States in March, an all-time high, as the US company airlifted devices to bypass Donald Trump's impending tariffs, customs data shows.The smartphone maker stepped up production in India and chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones to the United States to ensure sufficient inventory in one of its biggest markets based on concern that the US president's tariffs would push up costs. At least six cargo jets were used in the operation, which one source described as a way to beat the tariffs". Continue reading...

Fallout from Trump's trade war is forcing some Guardian readers to cut back or stock up on items from food to carsA few weeks ago, Dane began stocking up on paper products", cases of paper towels, toilet paper", piddle-pads" for their shih-tzu, and his wife upgraded from an iPhone 8 to 14.The 73-year-old in South Carolina said the purchases - which were made to get ahead of Donald Trump's trade policies - reminded him of the early weeks of the Covid pandemic, when he scrambled to buy masks, gloves and toilet paper. Continue reading...

Chip, memory and webcam upgrades are joined by welcome price cut for the top premium notebookApple's much-loved MacBook Air gets even more power, a much better webcam and an unexpected price cut for 2025, making one of the very best consumer laptops even more tempting.The company's thinnest and lightest laptop currently starts at 999 (1,199/$999/A$1,699) - 100 less than last year's model - and has Apple's top M4 chip with a minimum of 16GB of memory, making the cheapest model much more capable. Continue reading...

The IEA forecast indicates a sharp rise in the requirements of AI, but said threat to the climate was overstated'The global rush to AI technology will require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today, but only about half of the demand is likely to be met from renewable sources.Processing data, mainly for AI, will consume more electricity in the US alone by 2030 than manufacturing steel, cement, chemicals and all other energy-intensive goods combined, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Continue reading...

Under-16s will be barred from using the app's Live feature unless they have parental permissionMeta is expanding its safety measures for teenagers on Instagram with a block on livestreaming, as the social media company extends its under-18 safeguards to the Facebook and Messenger platforms.Under-16s will be barred from using Instagram's Live feature unless they have parental permission. They will also require parental permission to turn off a feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity in their direct messages. Continue reading...

Judges reject Home Office's attempt to withhold from public details of case concerning access of Apple users' dataThe UK has lost an attempt to keep details of a legal battle with Apple away from the public.The investigatory powers tribunal, which investigates whether the domestic intelligence services have acted unlawfully, on Monday rejected a bid by the Home Office to withhold from the public the bare details" of the case. Continue reading...

Director Janaina Nagata places her own internet research into South African history side by side with the vintage 16mm home movie footage that inspired itJanaina Nagata's documentary debut resembles a detective investigation. In 2018, the Brazilian film-maker chanced upon an old 16mm reel of what looked like a typical homemade travelogue. Nagata's film begins with the first 19 minutes of this already edited footage, in which there are glimpses of exotic safari animals, traditional African dance ceremonies and lavish banquets. Under the dissonant notes of an added background score, however, the smiling images turn queasy. Soon, Nagata would discover that this visual relic holds the spectre of apartheid South Africa.Her excursion into the past plays out almost in real time. Using a split-screen composition, she places scenes from the old reel side by side with her web browser. Like a gleaner, she looks for visual clues - a park sign, a portrait on a wall - which she then feeds into a search engine. In addition to the home movie's location, the city of Durban, she is also able to identify a couple of faces. Among them is former South African minister Hendrik Verwoerd, infamous as the architect of apartheid". Continue reading...