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Snap Inc announces it chose Britain due to its ‘strong creative industries’, in move seen as vote of confidence for UK tech following EU referendum resultSnap Inc, the company formerly known as Snapchat, has announced that it will set up its main international hub in the UK, in what is likely to be seen as a vote of confidence for British tech following the EU referendum result.The company says it chose Britain because of the nation’s “strong creative industries” in a move that bucks the trend of US tech companies favouring low-tax jurisdictions such as Luxembourg (where Amazon is based) or Ireland (where Facebook and Apple have their international headquarters). Continue reading...

A US intelligence report claimed RT’s ‘negative’ election coverage of Hillary Clinton was deliberate, which Margarita Simonyan called a ‘sad commentary’The editor-in-chief of RT, the Russian government-backed 24-hour news network, has hit back at claims in a US intelligence report that the news organization engaged in a longstanding effort “aimed at undermining US viewers’ trust in US democratic procedures”.

A Texan schoolgirl accidentally ordered a doll’s house using the gadget. Then, when local news reported the story, it triggered viewers’ own devices. But accidental shopping isn’t its only quirk

The 31-year-old Briton accused of hacking into US army and FBI sites faces extradition to the US – but changes in UK law should protect himWhile Donald Trump and the United States intelligence services argue over who hacked whom, it has been almost forgotten that, for a young British citizen, hacking accusations pack a much heavier punch than political point-scoring. Lauri Love, who has Asperger syndrome, is facing extradition to the US and is now awaiting a date for the appeal hearing that will determine the course of the rest of his life.Related: Amber Rudd orders Lauri Love extradition to US on hacking charges Continue reading...

It is important to be sceptical of redacted intelligence assessments, but the issues raised about Russia’s role in the 2016 US election are too serious to be dismissed so lightlyThe first foreign power to interfere directly in a United States presidential election was not Russia – but France. The date of this interference was not 2016 but 1796, and the intended beneficiary not Donald Trump but Thomas Jefferson. The French ambassador in the US tried to promote Jefferson, a democrat and francophile, against the federalist and anglophile John Adams. The move backfired, and helped Adams to win.Now, fast forward 150 years. During the cold war, and even afterwards, both the US and the Soviet Union tried, mostly surreptitiously, occasionally bloodily, sometimes successfully, to shape elections in many parts of the world. So, whatever else there is to say about Russia’s alleged involvement in the 2016 US election, do not make the mistake of saying that such a thing is unprecedented – because it is not. Continue reading...

Dolans are known for being tough and reliable, like a Le Creuset casserole dishThe snow surprised us when we woke up in the hills above Ullswater. We weren’t very well prepared. With waterproof booties back in Manchester, bread bags had to double as shoeliners, one of us was missing a winter glove and only I had the slightly creepy luxury of a balaclava under my helmet.At least I had the right bike. Though it’s set up for off-road cyclocross racing – the flattened top tube makes the carbon frame easier to lug over obstacles – the Dolan CDX lends itself to winter adventuring. Designed in Ormskirk by ex-pro Terry Dolan, who once made bikes for Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman, Dolans are known for being tough and reliable, like a Le Creuset casserole dish. The CDX isn’t afraid of a snowstorm, nor the sleet and sunshine that followed us as we rounded the rainbow-framed lake to buy beer and milk at Pooley Bridge. I was glad of the knobbly Continental tyres when we made our way gingerly down the hill from our holiday cottage. There was all sorts of debris in the road and if I’d been on my usual slicks I’d have ended up in the hawthorn waking up hibernating hedgehogs. The older I get, the more I prefer climbing to descending. I’m rarely more scared than when rattling downhill in midwinter, when most of the snow has turned to grubby mush but you can’t rule out black ice. I’m not sure I’d have dared if the CDX didn’t have disc brakes. Rim brakes are about as practical in the wet as suede boots in a Mancunian winter (autumn, spring, summer). Continue reading...

Over a decade ago Alex Hern switched from PC to Mac and never looked back. But the new MacBook Pro’s very expensive so could he finally be tempted to switch again?I’ve been an Apple user for over a decade, ever since I picked up a refurbished 17in PowerBook back in 2005 to replace my ailing Windows XP box. But last month, after Apple announced its most expensive new MacBook Pros in almost 15 years, I reconsidered my decision for the first time and, for the past few weeks, I’ve been back on a Windows PC.I wasn’t always a Mac user. My first three computers were PCs, although the house I grew up in had an ailing, hated Power Mac Performa. My reasons for switching in my teens were fairly simple: I’d been playing fewer and fewer PC games, and spending increasing amounts of time using my computer to manage the music library linked to my iPod. I was one of those switchers, surprised by the elegance of Apple’s music player and convinced to take the plunge into their full desktop operating system. Continue reading...

Daily Caller repackaged footage, days after Facebook removed it for violating community standards, and asked users to share if they ‘think this is a hate crime’A video showing the brutal attack of a young man with disabilities in Chicago that was broadcast on Facebook Live has resurfaced on the social media network, attracting millions of new viewers.The 30-minute attack, which shows a man bound, gagged and cut with a knife, was viewed live by 16,000 people and eventually removed by Facebook for violating its community standards. Facebook prohibits the celebration or glorification of crimes on its platform. Continue reading...

CEO sees payout reduced by 15% as sales and revenue targets slip, although he still netted $135m in shares in 2016Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, had his annual payout reduced last year after the company failed to reach its 2016 targets.

Sleep technology is one of the biggest trends at CES, the world’s top electronics show, from beds that stop snoring to a pillow that monitors sleep cyclesA bed that adjusts itself in the night to stop people from snoring. A princess and the pea-style gadget that fits under a mattress and monitors sleep. A “water-based, app-controlled mattress topper”, which will encourage deep slumber.Related: LG unveils Hub Robot to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home Continue reading...

Former employee filed lawsuit saying tech company misrepresented internal numbers about users and growth ahead of possible $25bn initial public offeringA former Snapchat employee has accused the tech company of lying about its user numbers to deceive investors ahead of a possible $25bn initial public offering and has filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination over his refusal to cooperate.Anthony Pompliano filed a lawsuit against the social media company on Wednesday in Los Angeles. In the suit, Pompliano alleges that Snapchat misrepresented its internal numbers about users and growth, “out of the avarice of the small group of executives” who hope for a huge valuation. Continue reading...

Users can now broadcast their lives to the world. But the real-time nature of events may prove to be beyond Facebook’s scopeIn August 2015, Facebook rolled out a new feature: the ability to broadcast live video streams from the company’s app for power users, Facebook Mentions. Six months later, the feature, now branded Facebook Live, began a slow rollout for normal users, initially in the United States.In classic Facebook style, the feature was late arriving, slow to roll out, and steadily demolished the competition. Meerkat, the company which ignited the live streaming craze, launched its mobile app in February 2015 and went meteoric at the South by Southwest Festival in March that year. But its time in the sun was limited: shortly after SXSW ended, Twitter subsidiary Periscope launched its own, technically superior, live-streaming service, eclipsing Meerkat almost instantly. Continue reading...

James Clapper tells Congress he will release more evidence of Russian interference in US election and describes ‘multifaceted’ cyber assaultThe departing head of US intelligence has publicly defended his analysts against attacks by Donald Trump following their conclusion that Russia interfered in the November election, as the unprecedented dispute between the president-elect and the intelligence services he will soon control broke into the open.“There’s a difference between skepticism and disparagement,” James Clapper told a hearing into foreign cyber-threats to the US held by the Senate armed services committee, adding that US intelligence analysts “stand more resolutely” than ever behind their conclusion of “Russian interference in our electoral process”. Continue reading...

The president-elect’s tweets approvingly repeated WikiLeaks founder’s claim that the Russian state was not the source of the hacked emails from the DNCLeading Republicans broke with Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president-elect appeared to put more faith in WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange than in US intelligence agencies.

Often seen as the pastime of friendless teenagers or a guilty pleasure, there are many huge benefits to playing video gamesEven now, well into the second decade of the 21st century, we tend to view video games as a guilty pleasure. For anyone over the age of 25, they’re often something you sneak off to do when no one is at home. They’re a furtive treat, filled with the cultural equivalent of empty calories.Partly this is to do with how video games have been marketed for the last 30 years – predominantly at teenage boys. The games industry has taught us to see games as loud, brash and arcane. On top of this, the most visible titles tend to conform to familiar stereotypes: Call of Duty is about killing enemies; Candy Crush Saga is about killing time. When you’re not entrenched in games, these highly marketed titles become representative – you don’t see the other things going on behind these entertainment monoliths. It’s just like, if you only go to the cinema in the summer, you’re in danger of thinking that all movies involve indestructible people wearing capes. Continue reading...

The president-elect’s musings are reported as news almost every day, but will the attention help make Twitter great again?“It’s like owning your own newspaper – without the losses.” That’s how Donald Trump described the San Francisco-headquartered social media tool in November 2012.In a little over four years, the celebrity businessman turned president-elect has grown his Twitter audience from about 2 million followers to almost 19 million, using it as his personal Pravda to post propaganda and stream-of-consciousness musings . Continue reading...

Manufactured by TCT with BlackBerry’s version of Android, new BlackBerry Press gets teaser before Las Vegas reveal at CESBlackBerry may have stopped making smartphones, but that hasn’t stopped BlackBerry smartphones from being made, with one expected to be called the BlackBerry Press to be announced at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday! Continue reading...

As a Peter Thiel-funded group moves to build a colony in a local lagoon, residents fear wealthy Americans just want to use their home to avoid taxesA futuristic plan to build a floating techno-libertarian city in a French Polynesian lagoon has left some local residents worried they could be the next unsuspecting inhabitants of a peaceful planet in a science-fiction movie.“It reminds me of the innocent Ewoks of the moon of Endor who saw in the Galactic Empire a providential manna,” said Tahitian TV host Alexandre Taliercio. “They let them build what they wanted on earth and in orbit, but that’s not to say that the Empire shared the blueprints of the Death Star with them.” Continue reading...

Do you want to see more gigs, get more sleep, keep a diary, or learn a language this year? Here’s a roundup of the best goal-oriented appsBookout (iOS – free)

Audi’s super competent A6 Allroad may look like an estate, but it has a dirty secret. It’s actually an SUV in disguisePrice: £46,505

The president-elect has repeatedly proven that an understanding of the complex problems presented by technology eludes him, but that hasn’t stopped him tweeting about it. The consequences could be direTechnology? Bah humbug: “I think we ought to get on with our lives,” said Donald Trump on Wednesday, summing up his take on the complex problem of apparently Russian phishing attacks on multiple Democratic party groups during the 2016 election.As the White House’s current resident prepared to impose sanctions on Russia for hacking, Trump said: “I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on.” Continue reading...

Alexa v Siri | Why so prudish? | Snow shame | Monster Raving classroom sizes | Floundering over FlanderSamuel Gibbs’ piece about the internet of things (How I turned my home into a sci-fi dream, theguardian.com, 24 December) omits an important warning: Alexa and Siri must never be left alone in the same room. The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi version of scratching each other’s eyes out is not pretty, but only Siri has that blood-curdling scream.

The International Drone Robot Contest is taking place in Incheon in South Korea. Humanoid bots battle it out in a martial arts contest while drones and rolling robots complete physical tasks. Six hundred pupils are taking part in the competition, which began on Tuesday Continue reading...

From the high-end Oculus Rift to Google and Samsung’s cheaper offerings, VR is aiming for the mainstream. What next?Virtual Reality is ... well, real. The last year has seen the launch of every major VR platform, from high-quality tethered systems like HTC’s Vive and Facebook’s Oculus Rift, through to cheap-and-cheerful smartphone-based platforms like Google’s Daydream and Samsung’s Gear VR.The early adopters have bought in, the launch games have been launched, and now that the initial flurry of excitement has died down, the more pressing questions are left: how will the platforms evolve? What will you actually be able to do with them? And is VR just a stepping stone anyway, to the even more science-fiction future of augmented reality tech? Continue reading...

The social network says it must encourage better behaviour otherwise users will stop using itIt is widely held that people are meaner on the internet than in person. Now Facebook is attempting to teach its users how to play nice.Its newly updated safety centre, including its “bullying prevention hub” are central to its strategy to improve the quality of discourse on the platform – for the sake of its future as much as for its users’ experience. Continue reading...

An open letter is urging the online retailer to follow Walmart and drop the sale of the T-shirt, which carries the words ‘Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter’The biggest US police union is pressing Amazon to follow Walmart and remove from third-party sale a shirt that seeks profit in relation to the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

For decades, sci-fi has told us voice operation is the way forward. Now AI butlers are here – and you don’t have to be Mark Zuckerberg do build your ownThe Internet of Things is here, they cried. Great, but do I really have to pull out my smartphone to do everything? Pushing a button was so much easier. Can’t I just talk to my house now? Can I scream “red alert” and have my lights flash red? The Star Trek dream.For decades we’ve been shown that voice is the future. From Star Trek’s computer to Iron Man’s Jarvis, science fiction has put voice control at the forefront of man-machine interaction. But until recently the best we could do was shout at a smartphone and hope for the best. Continue reading...

Company is taking its fleet of self-driving cars to Phoenix at the governor’s invitation, after California regulators struck down the unauthorized trialOne week after launching its self-driving pilot program in its home town of San Francisco, Uber is packing up its failed trial and taking its fleet of autonomous vehicles to Phoenix, Arizona.“Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and we’re excited to have the support of Governor Ducey.” Continue reading...

Growing concerns of fake news on the social network see CEO relent on protest that Facebook is not a media companyFacebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, appears to have finally conceded that the social network is a media company, just not a “traditional media company”.In a video chat with Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, Zuckerberg said: “Facebook is a new kind of platform. It’s not a traditional technology company. It’s not a traditional media company. You know, we build technology and we feel responsible for how it’s used.

Stuart is getting his daughter a Windows 10 laptop for Christmas, and would like some advice on setting it upMy daughter has asked for a Windows laptop for Christmas, for schoolwork and games. I used to follow the same procedure when setting up a PC for the first time: I’d install AVG anti-virus, Zone Alarm, CCleaner, Spybot Search and Destroy etc. I’m a Mac user and haven’t set up a Windows machine for many years so I’d appreciate any advice … except “get her a Mac/Linux” from below the line! StuartWindows 10 already includes almost everything the average PC user needs, with three different types of software. First, there are traditional Windows programs such as WordPad. Second, there are new-style apps such as Mail and Sticky Notes. Third, there are in-browser programs that work with your log-on email address, which is your Microsoft Account. Continue reading...

Honda says proposed deal with Google’s parent company did not mean abandoning its own efforts to develop driving systemHonda and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are in formal talks to develop self-driving vehicles, the Japanese carmaker said on Thursday, months after the US firm signed a deal to use its technology in Fiat Chrysler minivans.The prospect of a deal between Honda and Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo, which was spun off from Google earlier this month, is part of attempts by some car manufacturers to address the high cost of developing reliable automation software by teaming up with technology firms rather than going it alone. Continue reading...

Kickstarter-funded game blends physical and digital gameplay, with a stack of animals finding hybrid forms in a companion appThis Christmas, don’t expect to see Sir David Attenborough balancing an octopus on top of a warthog while trying to mate a toucan with a shark. Although if the BBC needs a festive ratings boost, it’s a thought.You might see it happen on your kitchen table, though, if you own Beasts of Balance. The new augmented board game sits somewhere in between Jenga and Skylanders, with your efforts to build a tower of animals reflected in the digital world of its companion app. Continue reading...

All of our efforts to be more productive backfire – and only make us feel even busier and more stressed

The company is accused of breaching labour laws with its internal policy banning workers from writing about workplace concernsGoogle is being sued over its internal confidentiality policies which bar employees from putting in writing concerns over “illegal” activity, posting opinions about the company, and even writing novels “about someone working at a tech company in Silicon Valley” without first giving their employer sign-off on the final draft.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday! Continue reading...

Ministers propose measures to prevent potential collisions with passenger jets and increase in fines for violating ‘no-fly zones’Anyone who buys a drone in the UK may have to register it and take a safety test under new measures to prevent potential collisions with passenger jets.Measures proposed by ministers also include criminal liability for anyone who flies a drone in “no-fly zones” surrounding airports and prisons, and an increase in fines, which currently cannot exceed £2,500. Continue reading...

Kurt Eichenwald, who has epilepsy and is an outspoken Trump critic, called on Twitter to identify person responsible for a tweet he says led to personal injuryA Newsweek reporter who has epilepsy said he had a seizure after being sent a message on Twitter intended to trigger such an episode and is seeking information from the social media company to identify the person responsible for the tweet.The image in question – which included a strobe effect and the words, “You deserve a seizure for your posts” – was apparently sent in response to Kurt Eichenwald’s outspoken criticism of President-elect Donald Trump. Eichenwald, who has a home in Texas, said in court documents that the image triggered a seizure. Continue reading...

We asked you to tell us what you think of Nintendo’s new Mario venture. Here’s what some of you said

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday. Continue reading...

New standards could reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 65m tonnes by 2030, government claimsThe Turnbull government has opened discussions on new fuel efficiency standards for vehicles which it says could cut consumer fuel spending by up to $28bn by 2040.

Gurbaksh Chahal got NIN Ventures gig less than six months after he was given a year in jail for violating probation by allegedly assaulting second womanGurbaksh Chahal, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who pleaded guilty to assault after police said he punched and kicked his girlfriend 117 times in 2013, has been appointed an adviser at a venture capital firm, something domestic violence organizations say sends a “disturbing message”.The appointment by Chicago-headquartered NIN Ventures comes less than six months after Chahal was sentenced to a year in jail for violating his probation by allegedly assaulting a second woman months after pleading guilty to the first case. His sentence is suspended pending an appeal. Continue reading...

This film adaptation of the successful videogame, in which Fassbender must battle Templars after the original apple from Eden, is an interminable, lifeless mess“What the fuck is going on?” mutters Michael Fassbender’s character through clenched teeth, reasonably early on in the course of this interminable film, based on the lucrative video game series Assassin’s Creed. You can imagine each of its stars – Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Essie Davis – saying much the same thing while looking through the script, before being directed to the fee on the last page of their contract. It’s an action movie, with dollops of thriller and splodges of Dan Brown conspiracy; and hardly five minutes go by without someone in a monk’s outfit doing a bit of sub-parkour jumping from the roof of one building to another. And yet it is at all times mysteriously, transcendentally boring.I bet playing the game is much more exciting. But then getting Fassbender to slap a coat of Dulux on the wall of his hi-tech prison cell and monitoring the progressive moisture-loss would be more exciting.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s, um, Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Ombudsman role would serve to protect companies from spurious complaints and prevent excessive censorshipFrance is considering appointing an official internet ombudsman to regulate complaints about online material in order to prevent excessive censorship and preserve free speech.A bill establishing a “content qualification assessment procedure” has been tabled in the French senate and the initiative was debated last week at a high level meeting attended by senators and judges as well as policy officers from Google and Twitter. Continue reading...

Treasury select committee says existing vulnerabilities and accountability need to be addressed in the wake of Tesco Bank hackingMore action may be needed to protect the financial services industry from a devastating cyber-attack, the head of the Treasure select committee has suggested.Andrew Tyrie MP wrote to Ciaran Martin, head of the new cybersecurity centre of UK surveillance agency GCHQ, saying the lines of responsibility and accountability for reducing cyber-threats are opaque. Continue reading...

Operation prompted scrutiny about process and site’s apparent unwillingness to pay for fact-checking that relies on users and non-partisan organizationsFacebook’s new effort to flag news deemed to be “fake” began on Friday, as new questions emerged about the limitations of the system the social media giant has put in place to outsource the fact-checking process.The tech company’s decision to swiftly test a system to identify fraudulent news stories has won plaudits from fact-checking experts, including some involved in the project. Continue reading...

Hillary Clinton says cyber-attack targeting the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta was Vladimir Putin’s way of seeking personal revenge

President Barack Obama says the US will retaliate against Russian cyber-attacks during the presidential election. Speaking in an interview aired on National Public Radio on Friday, Obama says he has spoken to Vladimir Putin about the issue. The CIA says it has evidence that Russia intended to influence the US election in Donald Trump’s favour