Technology | The Guardian

Ahead of the launch of Apple’s streaming service, a string of artists have been affiliated with the venture Continue reading...

In the US in 2014 just 2% of Google’s workers were black people and 3% were Hispanic, and only 18% of technology jobs are held by womenGoogle is largely failing to diversify its workforce beyond white and Asian men even though it hired women to fill one in every five of its openings for computer programmers and other high-paying technology jobs last year.The imbalanced picture emerged in a demographic breakdown that Google released on Monday. The report underscored the challenges that Google and most other major technology companies face as they try to add more women, black people and Hispanics to their payrolls after many years of primarily relying on the technical skills of white and Asian men. Continue reading...

The supreme court ruled in favor of Anthony Elonis, who wrote about smothering his ex-wife, but did not set a new standard of proof for lower courts Continue reading...

Users of the social network can now opt to encrypt email notifications such as password resets and other confidential informationFacebook is offering users the ability to encrypt password reset emails for the first time, using the popular PGP email encryption standard.Users who want to take advantage of the new security standards can tell Facebook their public key, and the site will then ensure that any sensitive emails that it sends out, such as password resets or other notifications, will be encrypted. The company will also cryptographically sign messages it sends, which allows users to verify that the sender genuinely is Facebook. Continue reading...

Have you chucked something in the bin only to realise later that it was a mistake? We’d like to hear from you

Google’s advanced research arm shows off new projects at I/O developer conference in San Francisco Continue reading...

Blockchain has issued an update for the Android version of its bitcoin wallet after discovering a critical failure which breaks the cryptocurrency’s securityBitcoin wallet application Blockchain has rushed to release an update after a critical bug left multiple users unaware that they were sharing a bitcoin wallet, leaving their cryptocurrency completely unsecured.The bug affected users running Blockchain’s app on Android version 4.1 or older, the company says, and it “resulted in one specific address being generated multiple times, leading to a loss of funds for a handful of users.”I’m just sitting here like ‼️ at the foolish audacity of acquiring remotely generated entropy for your Bitcoin app over plaintextWallet relied on http://t.co/tbMRgU4EP2, which wasn't random? Just another day in the Bitcoin clown show. https://t.co/3QkFk04qVE Continue reading...

MixRadio, Google Photos, Make My Day, Capitals, Geometry Wars 3, Til Morning’s Light, Inbox by Gmail and more Continue reading...

Google Photos, MixRadio, Periscope, Inbox by Gmail, Skiing Yeti Mountain, Biz Builder Delux, Lara Croft: Relic Run and more Continue reading...

Final version of Windows will be released this summer as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7 or later

The place to talk about games and other things that matter Continue reading...

(PS4, Xbox One, PC, Bandai Namco, cert: 18, out now) Continue reading...

It’s like the dating app, but for work. But is swiping really the best way to find employment – or dogs, or houses? Continue reading...

EA Games’ Fifa 16 is to include women for the first time – and it’s not the only recent boost for female football fans Continue reading...

Mystery woman dropped off computer – built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in 1976 – after cleaning out garage, Silicon Valley recycling firm saysA $100,000 check is waiting for a mystery woman who donated a rare Apple 1 computer to a Silicon Valley recycling firm.CleanBayArea in Milpitas, California, said on its website that a woman in her 60s dropped off some electronic goods in April, when she was cleaning out the garage after her husband died. Continue reading...

Because the streaming software is an open-source community project run by a dedicated global collective, free all-the-movies-ever sites will keep popping up Continue reading...

Dread Pirate Roberts may have been sentenced to life, but experts and customers say the tide has turned and internet markets for illicit products are here to stay Continue reading...

The man behind the dark web’s most notorious black market, is facing a lifetime in jail Continue reading...

Drag queens, transgender people and others part of #MyNameIs coalition will demand removal of fake name reporting option and clearer appeals processDrag queens plan to lead a demonstration outside Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters on Monday in response to the company’s “real name” policy.Facebook has repeatedly stated its opposition to anonymous users and has suspended accounts when people do not use their officially recognised names. The policy has incited drag queens, transgender people, Native Americans, domestic violence survivors and others who do not use the names on their birth certificates to come together against the policy as part of the #MyNameIs coalition. Continue reading...

‘In town, it darts and scuttles like a tiny, exotic insect’ Continue reading...

Thirty-one-year-old behind illegal online drug emporium handed five sentences – including two for life – to be served concurrently with no chance of paroleRoss Ulbricht, the man behind illegal online drug emporium Silk Road, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday by Judge Katherine Forrest of Manhattan’s US district court for the southern district of New York.

Fight for the Future provides code to block access from congressional IP addresses amid debate to re-authorize Patriot Act or pass USA Freedom Act Continue reading...

Inventor of world wide web also advised developing world to ‘just say no’ to Facebook’s Internet.org schemeTim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, has urged Britons to fight the government’s plans to extend the country’s surveillance powers, and act as a worldwide leader for promoting good governance on the web.

On a spring Sunday in May 250 years ago, the Scottish engineer had a stroke of mechanical inspiration – and changed the world Continue reading...

EA Sports has spent development time making its Fifa games more inclusive and representational – predictably, there has been an online backlash

Lyudmila Savchuk says lawsuit will shed light on secretive practice of paying people to post political comments online. The Moscow Times reports Continue reading...

The inventive London-based studio is planning more games and music-industry moves, as well as investment in startups, in a drive to never be second-guessedIn January, creative studio ustwo made a splash by releasing sales figures for its Monument Valley mobile game.The game and its Forgotten Shores expansion had cost $1.4m to make, but more than 2.4m sales generated revenue of nearly $5.9m, while the game scooped sackfuls of awards.Related: The best apps of 2014 for Android, iPhone and iPadRelated: Dice gambles on shaking up gig tickets: 'We're getting rid of the friction' Continue reading...

Convicted Silk Road operator asks judge for leniency as prosecutors demand lengthy sentence to set example for would-be deep web entrepreneurs Continue reading...

PS3/4, Xbox One/360; Activision; £19.99 Continue reading...

Soon-to-be-released Hatred has already garnered column inches and been banned from streaming service Twitch. Not bad for a schlock-horror clicheYou have to hand it to Polish studio, Destructive Creations – it set out to build a narrative of controversy and rebellion from the start, and it succeeded. In October 2014, the team released a ludicrous trailer for its isometric third-person shooter, Hatred. A gravel-voiced killer is pictured gathering an arsenal of weapons with which to embark on a murder spree, his motive a hate-filled contempt for society. “This is the time of vengeance and no life is worth saving,” he intones with an aggrandised misanthropy that doesn’t just sidle up to self-parody, but vaults the fence and charges in all guns blazing. And then we see in-game footage, and it’s basically Postal, a 1997 PC game in which the player controls an anonymous character on, yes, a psychopathic murder spree. That’s it. That’s what Hatred offers.From there, the studio garnered a series of PR coups. Game sites rushed to reflect on the “controversy” of the trailer’s content; then the title was briefly removed from Steam Greenlight, essentially the peer review section of the world’s dominant PC games retail platform. Accusations of corporate censorship abounded, and later, Gabe Newell, chief executive of Steam developer Valve, publicly reinstated the title and apologised for its removal.These days, when a lot of games are heading to be polite, colorful, politically correct and trying to be some kind of higher art, rather than just an entertainment – we wanted to create something against trends. Something different, something that could give the player a pure, gaming pleasure. Continue reading...

Unfixed iOS bug allows booby-trapped messages to break Snapchat text chat and can be sent via Twitter direct messages or mentionsApple’s text messaging bug that can crash iPhones with simple text also affects Twitter and permanently breaks Snapchat text chat.

Dennis Publishing strikes deal with Mojang, creator of building game, with first print run set for 45,000 copiesThe UK is to get its first magazine dedicated to the hugely popular building-block game Minecraft.Dennis Publishing is to launch a monthly magazine called Minecraft World after striking a deal with Mojang, the creator of Minecraft which was acquired by Microsoft in a $2.5bn deal last year. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterHey, it’s Friday! Continue reading...

Apps for kids have own sections on the Google Play store, plus pages for Peppa Pig, Frozen, Star Wars and other brands Continue reading...

iMessage issue solved by asking Siri to read and reply to unread messages – but it’s only a temporary fix in advance of full software update Continue reading...

Health officials in Rhode Island and Utah attribute an uptick in STDs including syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV cases to use of apps like Grindr and Tinder Continue reading...

New version of Android software for smartphones, tablets, watches and TVs outlined at Google I/O developer conference and will be released later this yearGoogle’s next version of Android software for smartphones, tablets, watches and TVs is called “M” and will aim to beef up security while conserving battery life, the tech company announced on Thursday at I/O, its annual developer conference in San Francisco.With Android M, Google is attempting to spread its mobile operating system far and wide, building on previous initiatives with last year’s Android “Lollipop” and its developing-world focused Android One for low-cost smartphones. Continue reading...

Search firm has designs on fully connected houses following its acquisition of smart-device company Nest and wants to be bigger than just AndroidGoogle intends to be the center of the connected home with its new “internet of things” operating system, Brillo.

Podcast’s creator and host, Sarah Koenig, gave away few details of new series in newsletter to fans, only saying it would be different from first instalment Continue reading...

“[B]roadband access is essential for access to education and information, for managing and receiving health care, and for daily tasks,” the agency says Continue reading...

Privacy concerns over app that allows you to pinpoint location of anyone who is part of same messaging thread, and track them via time stampsAn extension for the Chrome web browser has been developed that allows people to pinpoint the precise location, to within a metre, of Facebook Messenger users.The app – named Mauraders Map after the magical map in the Harry Potter books that showed the identity, locations and movements of all individuals – has been created by Harvard computer science and mathematics student, Aran Khanna. Continue reading...

Electronic Arts has overcome ‘technical obstacles’ to add 12 female national sides to the latest edition of its multimillion-selling football seriesIn what is likely to be the only piece of positive PR that the world football governing body will receive this week, publisher Electronic Arts has announced it will be introducing female footballers into its Fifa video game series, beginning with the forthcoming Fifa 16 edition.The game features 12 international all-female teams, 11 of whom will appear at next month’s World Cup finals, including hosts Canada as well as England, Brazil, Germany and Spain.Related: 52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn’t know it | Meg JayanthRelated: Who are the best female characters in video games? Continue reading...