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Retailers issue product recalls as trading standards officers suggest consumer vigilance over self-balancing scooters this ChristmasTrading standards officers are warning Christmas shoppers to be cautious before buying a hoverboard – tipped to be one of this year’s most popular gifts – after thousands were impounded at UK ports after testing revealed they were at risk of exploding or bursting into flames.The futuristic gadget – also known as a self-balancing scooter, eboard or swegway – is selling fast in the runup to Christmas, but there have been reports that poor quality, imported versions are a fire hazard. Continue reading...

Competition and Markets Authority says nine of 25 proposals put forward by Transport for London to regulate taxi trade would be bad for customersUber has been given a boost in its attempts to stave off proposed changes to regulating the taxi trade in London, after the competition authority said the reforms would not serve the public interest.Transport for London (TfL) is consulting on a range of requirements for licensed hire cars, after advances in technology, and particularly the advent of Uber, challenged rules governing the traditional black cab industry.

From Donald Trump on Muslims to Ben Carson on pyramids, the hopefuls on Bush’s own side keep saying something stupidOver the weekend Jeb Bush, the US presidential hopeful, told CBS News that if it came to it he would support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, “because anybody is better than Hillary Clinton”. You can see why he felt obliged to say so, but it won’t be easy for him to defend the idea that Clinton is the worst presidential prospect he can think of.Related: Ben Carson's lies reveal a fundamental truth about candidates' tall tales | Mike Daisey Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg has joined a club of charitable billionaires who have given away large amounts of their money. We take a look at some of themRelated: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce baby girl – and $45bn charity initiativeMark Zuckerberg’s decision to donate $45bn of Facebook shares to charity makes him the latest in a long line of US business moguls who have given away large chunks of their fortunes. Continue reading...

Troubled tech company could sell off assets including Yahoo Mail and its news and sports sites instead of spinning off its multibillion-dollar stake in AlibabaThe Yahoo board will weigh a sale of its core internet business when it meets this week, according to sources.Its meeting comes amid a broader debate about the future of the company and that of high-profile chief executive Marissa Mayer. Continue reading...

Biggest ever cyber-attack targeting children sees private information stolen including photos and addresses as well as the information of 4.9 million parentsToymaker VTech will be investigated by several US states after a hack that exposed the private data of 6.4 million children, including photos and addresses.Attorneys general of Connecticut and Illinois said they will investigate the breach, the largest known hack targeting children, which exposed the private data of more children than the 4.9 million adults caught in the hack. Continue reading...

Chinese upstart’s latest Android device is excellent value for money with great screen, good camera and dual-sim support – if you can manage to buy oneThe OnePlus X offers quite a lot of bang for your buck in terms of specifications, design and build – it looks like a premium smartphone but costs under £200.

The couple’s initiative is a huge gesture – but even by extreme giving, they can never buy their way out of the inequality their wealth and power createsIt’s refreshing to see two prominent billionaires even paying lip service to upending plutocracy. And of course, considering the dire state of the global wealth gap, it would be counterproductive to do anything that could discourage future extreme giving from the wealthy.Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan welcomed their newborn daughter Max into the world on 1 December with a joint open letter on Facebook promising her all sorts of things and announcing a philanthropic initiative involving 99% of their shares going to worthy causes. Continue reading...

Twitter dug into the Facebook founder’s 2,000 word letter his newborn, which also announced his new charity initiative to combat general global problemsBillionaire, social network founder and, once upon a time, everyone’s unsolicited friend on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg added two more titles to his name on Tuesday. A newborn daughter made him a father and an open letter announcing he would give away 99% of his Facebook stock made him a man destined for several awkward years after his daughter learns to read.In the open letter to his daughter Max, Zuckerberg describes how he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, plan to found the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a foundation that will center around “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities”. Continue reading...

Budget airline launches lawsuit over allegedly ‘misleading and deceptive’ online ads for rival site selling Ryanair flightsRyanair has launched legal action against Google in an attempt to force the internet search engine to stop promoting allegedly misleading and deceptive ads for another website selling Ryanair flights.The Irish airline has long complained about eDreams, which it claims masquerades as Ryanair to sell its seats at inflated prices and causes problems with customers’ bookings. But it has turned its attention to Google as internet searches for Ryanair promote the eDreams website and an eDreams subsidiary, Opodo – as well as Google’s own flight search adverts – above Ryanair’s site. Continue reading...

UK government monitoring station admits hacking devices for the first time during case brought by Privacy International and internet service providersGCHQ carries out “persistent” illegal hacking of phones, computers and networks worldwide under broad “thematic” warrants that ignore privacy safeguards, a security tribunal has heard.Microphones and cameras on electronic devices can be remotely activated without owners’ knowledge, photographs and personal documents copied and locations discovered, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) has been told. Continue reading...

After controversial depowering of infamous Warsong Commander card, creators of collectible card game say such alterations will inevitably happen againThis autumn, Blizzard Entertainment took one of the most powerful decks from its collectible card game Hearthstone and obliterated it. This was not the first time the company had decided to significantly alter, or “nerf”, an aspect of its hugely successful title, but it was the most high profile, and caused a storm of controversy within the Hearthstone community. Many thought it was the nerf to end all nerfs.But it wasn’t. Continue reading...

Beyond the Fence, the story of a family at Greenham Common, will incorporate machine-generated plot and musicThey have become brilliant at chess, had music performed by one of the world’s leading orchestras and seen their art enter major collections. But could a computer also generate a hit West End musical?The answer may be provided next year with the announcement of the world’s first computer musical, getting a run at the Arts Theatre accompanied by a TV series on Sky Arts. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday 1 December. What did you get in your advent calendar this morning? Continue reading...

Users tweeting #WhatWouldMagufuliDo are offering wry ways to emulate John Magufuli’s clampdown on wasteful spending. Global Voices reportsTanzania’s newly elected president, nicknamed “the bulldozer”, has become a Twitter sensation across Africa after introducing radical government cost-cutting measures.Immediately after his inauguration, John Magufuli scrapped independence celebrations, choosing instead to spend money on sanitation, fighting cholera and new beds and equipment for hospitals. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Data stolen from a global telecommunications company in 2013 led to messages being sent to mobile numbers across Middle East two years laterA hacker attempted to send more than 4m text messages saying “death to the Jews” by exploiting the network of a global telecommunications company.

Smartphone maker plans exit after ban on secure communications sees demand for ‘unfettered access’ to all customer informationSmartphone and secure communications company BlackBerry will pull out of Pakistan by the end of the year over government intrusions into user privacy.

Soho theatre, London

The place to talk about games and other things that matterOh right, it’s Monday. Continue reading...

Using computers, probes and cameras, ‘smart’ device’s creators have transformed a backbone of the kitchen that has changed little since Mad Men eraFor US entrepreneur Matt van Horn, there was one household device that has stubbornly avoided the technological transformation of domestic life.“The oven in my home today looked almost identical to the vintage ovens on shows like Mad Men … and not much had changed,” he says. Continue reading...

In the ‘gig’ or ‘sharing’ economy, say the experts, we will do lots of different jobs as technology releases us from the nine to five. But it may also bring anxiety, insecurity and low wages• Five ways work will change in the future

Why speak face to face when you can put it all in a text? Oliver Burkeman on reviving the lost art of real-time communicationYoung people today, along with their Snapchat and their selfies and their sexting, apparently engage in a practice known as “phubbing”. According to Sherry Turkle, the American sociologist of digital life, this involves maintaining eye contact with one person while text-messaging another. “My students tell me they do it all the time and that it’s not that hard,” she writes in her new book, Reclaiming Conversation. I nearly fell out of my wingback chair into my bowl of Werther’s Originals.Surely kids aren’t incapable of concentrating on one other human being face to face? But I’m a hypocrite: the main reason I don’t text while looking at someone else is just that I’d be terrible at it. Instead, I am always drifting away from a live conversation to check my iPhone under the table, or in the bathroom. When I see someone typing instead of interacting with someone at the supermarket checkout, I wince at the rudeness, because I’d never do that myself, unless it were really urgent… and yet it often does feel really urgent, so I do. Turkle’s thesis, in short, rings troublingly true: we’re more connected than ever, yet we talk – really talk – less and less. Continue reading...

High streets remain calm on Black Friday as retailers reap benefits of rise in online shopping for pre-Christmas bargainsBritish shoppers are expected to have spent more than £3bn by the time Cyber Monday ends, after the American phenomenon of Black Friday led to an online sales surge.

Keep clear of crowded high streets by shopping from your phone, with some of the best smartphone and tablet appsIt’s not that many years since the idea of shopping on your phone – or “m-commerce” as the jargon of the time put it – was laughed at by many experts. Who would actually buy stuff from that little device in their pockets? As it turns out, lots of people.Smartphones and tablets may never completely replace the utter hell visceral thrills of barging your way round crowded high-street stores with 17 bags in hand, but with a bit of planning, your mobile devices can spare you the hard work. Continue reading...

Microsoft co-founder will announce multi-billion-dollar Initiative Cleantech on opening day of two-week climate summit alongside Barack ObamaMicrosoft co-founder Bill Gates will launch a multi-billion-dollar clean energy research and development initiative on Monday, the opening day of the United Nations climate change summit in Paris, it was reported on Friday.Gates and a group of developing and developed countries will agree to double their research and development budgets to boost clean energy deployment and work collaboratively, according to GreenWire, an energy and climate trade publication which cited government and business officials familiar with the agreement. Continue reading...

Milk cartons of the Pacific Northwest, unite: you have nothing to lose but your foul-smelling contentsA lot gets written about the problems of corporate culture in Silicon Valley. The workaholism, the sexism, the short-termism.But less gets written about the problems of corporate culture in Microsoft’s home turf of Redmond, Washington. Specifically, the milk. Continue reading...

Users who install the extension see a warning sign based on the long-running space opera’s famous opening crawl if the page they are about to visit mentions JJ Abrams’ new episodeIt’s the dilemma facing every Star Wars fan: how to surf the internet without being assaulted from all sides with spoilerific articles and social media shares about new instalment The Force Awakens. Now a new Google Chrome plugin is promising to keep users blissfully unaware of even the most minor plot detail from JJ Abrams’ mega-hyped new film.The Star Wars Spoiler Blocker extension promises to warn you about Star Wars content on any page you’re about to visit. If the offending article reveals – don’t worry we made this one up – that Luke Skywalker is Kylo Ren’s father, the user will see only a large box resembling the long-running space saga’s famous opening crawl with the warning “potential spoilers ahead” rather than the piece in question. They will then be given the option to “proceed anyway”, should the temptation to discover whether Jar Jar Binks finally gets his comeuppance in Abrams’ film become overwhelming. Continue reading...

Policy that will affect new fathers and people in same-sex relationships comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he will take two months leaveFacebook is introducing four-month parental leave for all new fathers, days after Mark Zuckerberg announced he would be taking two months of leave for the birth of his first child.Facebook’s new parental leave policy extends the four-month leave option that was already available to some employees – such as current head of search Tom Stocky, who took four months off following the birth of his child in 2013 – to every full-time employee of the company, regardless of gender or location. Continue reading...

An a cappella app by PicPlayPost is the internet’s new obsessionChances are you’ve seen videos like this in your timeline recently:#Hollow - @ToriKelly made with @AcapellaApp (makers of @PicPlayPost) glad to be part of the team :) pic.twitter.com/19VOpZ2CMb Continue reading...

Weapon system being developed jointly with India as Israel fears Hezbollah has acquired Russian-made missiles that can be fired from land at targets on seaIsrael’s military says it has successfully tested an advanced surface-to-air missile that analysts believe could play a key role in securing the country’s offshore gas fields.Related: Russian TV stations broadcast secret nuclear torpedo plans Continue reading...

How can we make sure artists get a fair deal in the age of streaming? Can electronic music ever be truly live? Tech Weekly goes under the bonnet of the latest tech developments in music with Imogen Heap and Tim ExileFrom the gramophone to the iPhone, music has always had a symbiotic relationship with technology. But with the proliferation of streaming services and the collapse of sales, the digital era has increasingly disenfranchised those making the music itself. Now with the rise of musician-developed apps and software, artists can take back the reins creatively but what about economically?We talk to musician Imogen Heap about her visions for "fair-trade music" enabled via blockchain technology; electronic artist Tim Exile talks us through his latest software, Flesh, which injects an element of chance into electronic music performance, and Peter Doggett give us a whistlestop tour of some of the biggest tech innovations that transformed music over the last 100 years. Continue reading...

A Silicon Valley company has invented a smart thermometer that continuously streams your child’s temperature to your smartphone – and it’s just the latest step in the billion-dollar ‘self-care’ industryWorried your child might have a fever? Help is now at hand thanks to a cunning new invention developed by New Deal Design and VivaLnk, a pair of San Francisco companies who devote themselves to developing solutions to problems you never even knew you had.The Fever Scout is a soft wearable thermometer that continuously monitors the temperature of whatever it is stuck on, then sends the information wirelessly to your smartphone. As a result, you can check your child’s temperature in the middle of the night by simply looking at your phone, making childcare as easy as Instagram. Continue reading...

Deep Forger is the latest creepily good application of neural networks to image processing – now anyone can play with itDeep Forger is a Twitter account which will generate a version of any picture fed to it in the style of any other picture.

Some entertaining and educational options for under the tree, from children’s tablets and coding board games to build-it-yourself robots and stargazer dollsFor parents looking to prise their children away from a life online, there are plenty of tangible, inventive, educational and/or entertaining physical products out there for the tech-savvy children of 2015.Whether you’re a parent, carer, relative or family friend – and whatever your price range – you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to tech-related presents this year. Here are some of the best examples. Continue reading...

Antony Jenkins says technological advances could lead to half the number of branches and employeesBanking is reaching its “Uber moment” as technological advances will lead to hundreds of branch closures and a possible halving of people employed in the sector, the former chief executive of Barclays has warned.In a speech reported by Reuters, Antony Jenkins described technology as an “unstoppable force” that would lead to better customer service and a wave of new banks becoming household names. Continue reading...

Sitting on your handlebars and always pointing you towards your destination, the Beeline is more like a magic compass rather than a satnavThis review was conducted with an early-stage prototype of the Beeline, powered by an arduino board. The final hardware and app due to ship in August 2016 will look different.The Beeline is a cycle navigation device that dumps your usual turn-by-turn directions for an arrow that always points you in the right direction. Continue reading...

Road safety authorities and automakers wrangle over new rules requiring loudspeakers to warn cyclists and visually impaired peopleUS regulators are grappling with new rules for electric and hybrid cars that are too quiet, leading to fears of collisions with cyclists and sight-impaired pedestrians unless the vehicles are fitted with artificial noise-making systems.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the odds of a hybrid vehicle being involved in a pedestrian crash are 19% higher compared with a gasoline-powered vehicle. Continue reading...

New York County district attorney report argues Google and Apple should give law enforcement access to user smartphone data reveals court order systemGoogle and Apple can and will unlock smartphones and tablets when ordered to do so by a court, if the devices are not encrypted, a report from the Manhattan district attorney’s office has said.

Sony is bringing PlayStation 2 compatibility to PlayStation 4 and is asking gamers what they’d like to play. Here are our suggestions, from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to PES 4 to Timesplitters 2It’s what veteran gamers have been asking for, but what Sony once said would probably never happen: the company is working on a PlayStation 2 emulator for PlayStation 4.In an email to Wired, a sony representative has stated: “We are working on utilising PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation. We have nothing further to comment at this point in time.” It’s not clear, then, what form the emulation will take. Will Sony just be making a handful of classic titles available for digital download, or will it build a fully functioning emulator allowing players to load their old PS2 discs into the PS4? Continue reading...

I fear Zoe Williams has set Labour an impossible task with her admonition (The future’s at stake: the left must show it could create an iPad, 23 November). As we already have Apple’s iPad, what should John McDonnell’s socialist innovators set their sights on inventing? Nobody knew there was a demand for iPads before they were invented. Similarly, if we go further back into history, there was no demand for telephones or televisions or aeroplanes before each of these were invented.Innovation rarely, if ever, answers some perceived social or political need. What the political system does influence is the way in which innovation is exploited and, as I illustrate in my book Eureka: How Invention Happens (Yale, 2015), the lesson of history is that technological creativity thrives best in a free market. McDonnell’s ill-judged slogan “socialism with an iPad” will only reinforce the widely held view that leftwing politics and innovation are incompatible.

Why has a satnav software glitch been reporting traffic incidents in the tiny Alpine town to drivers in the UK?Name: PreiteneggAge: At least 800 years old. Continue reading...

Technology companies respond to post-Paris attack threats to web security and calls for backdoors in encryption from governmentApple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Twitter, Facebook and 56 other technology companies have joined together to reject calls for weakening encryption saying it would be “exploited by the bad guys”.

The Light or the Dark side see lightsabers, Stormtroopers, TIE fighters, X-wings and scenes from the Force Awakens take over your browserWhich side are you? Light or Dark? Jedi or Sith? Good or evil? Google is letting you choose and get a Star Wars makeover of its services.Heading to google.com/starwars forces you to choose. Are you with the Resistance (formerly the Rebel Alliance) or the First Order (formerly the Empire)? Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s quite a cold Monday morning. Continue reading...

Michael Chapman’s personal photography project explored his extended social network, even if it failed to uncover any secret Nazi dungeons“I was talking to one of my strangers about how I hadn’t met any weirdos yet, and she leaned forward and went ‘My coat is made of human hair’. And I thought ‘Yes! Brilliant!’.”Michael Chapman is the man who met 100 strangers off the internet and lived to tell the tale. The British photographer has spent the last year snapping volunteers sourced through social network Twitter, for a project called We Met as Strangers that he has published online. Continue reading...

Despite reports claiming Uber drivers would be licenced by the end of the year and taxi licence owners compensated, premier says decision yet to be reachedNew South Wales premier Mike Baird has played down reports that Uber will be legalised in the state by the end of the year.On Monday the Daily Telegraph reported the state government would announce sweeping reforms to taxi regulation. Continue reading...

Luxury automaker finds faulty seatbelt in European model of Model S car, forcing recall of the 90,000 vehicles currently on the roadElon Musk’s Tesla Motors is recalling every single Model S car because the luxury electric auto manufacturer found a faulty seatbelt in one of its European models.“Tesla recently found a Model S in Europe with a front seat belt that was not properly connected to the outboard lap pretensioner,” said the company in an unattributed statement emailed to customers and posted to its website on Friday. “This vehicle was not involved in a crash and there were no injuries. However, in the event of a crash, a seat belt in this condition would not provide full protection.” Continue reading...

The combined brains of the internet are working on fighting terror. It’s not going greatWhen all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. So perhaps its not surprising that when everyone and their dog pops above the parapet with a killer idea for how to deal with Isis, they all seem to suggest doing much the same thing they are always doing.For example, if you’re a copyright lawyer, then clearly the answer involves using copyright law. Because Isis may be happy to slaughter thousands, but they know that home-taping is killing music. Continue reading...

Social network trials ‘take a break’ tools, offering a quick option to hide posts and pictures from a former partner after a user changes their relationship statusIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a newly single person, in possession of a broken heart, must be in want of social media updates about their recent ex.Related: Facebook’s fix for heartbreak doesn’t go far enough | Daisy Buchanan Continue reading...

Music industry legend caused uproar by saying Apple’s music could help women who wouldn’t know how to find music when their hearts were brokenJimmy Iovine, one of the most powerful men in the music industry, has been forced to apologise after saying women don’t know how to find music.Iovine, who co-founded Interscope Records and Beats by Dre (and who now holds an unspecified position with Apple, following the company’s $3bn purchase of Beats in May 2014) appeared on CBS’s This Morning on Thursday to talk about Apple Music. Continue reading...