Technology | The Guardian

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...

Bug in Apple’s Messages that allows anyone to crash someone’s iPhone with a text can also affect an Apple Watch, iPad or MacThe bug that causes iPhones to crash when they receive a boobytrapped text message also affects the Apple Watch, iPads and Macs.

Nintendo has not quite created the perfect shooter for people who don’t like shooters, but it is lovely, exciting and very coolSplatoon – Nintendo’s take on shooting games – is as wonderfully, vibrantly creative as the phrase “Nintendo’s take on shooting games” might suggest. An entirely unique central mechanic removes the usual assault-rifle-toting grunts in favour of shape-shifting squids with a guns full of ink. Your aim is to paint the environment with as much of your team’s colour as possible, taking out rival players as you go.At any point, if you look down at your Game Pad controller, you can see the world being slowly covered with lurid ink, like an animated Jackson Pollock painting, giving you an indication of both score and movement. At the end of each fiercely contested, inky tug-of-war, a chubby cat announces the score as a percentage, tallying up the two with a slow build and a sudden reveal.Related: Game on: after Marvel’s Avengers, Nintendo’s stars could be next to hit the big screen Continue reading...

Last week’s column on Windows 10 resulted in many more readers’ questions. Here’s a handful, though nothing is certain until Microsoft launches the codeCan you please tell me how to go about obtaining the free Windows 10 for my laptop, which is currently operating on Windows 8.0? Eric Continue reading...

With summer just around the corner, we find out how technology has changed the way we go on holiday Continue reading...

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

Labor frontbencher says NBN’s chief technology officer has refused to attend hearings and Senate estimates on all but one time since his appointment Continue reading...

Brandz power list also sees Facebook soar thanks to Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions, while Vodafone is top UK brand Continue reading...

Pebble’s latest crowdfunding success story doesn’t try too hard, reaping the benefits of a focus on functionality, notifications and battery lifePebble Time is the latest smartwatch crowdfunding success story, having broken records by hitting $2m in 58 minutes and ultimately raising over $20m. But is the watch that works with both Android and iPhone – making it a direct Apple Watch competitor – worth the hype?This is the second time on the merry-go-round for Pebble. Its first cross-platform smartwatch, simply called the Pebble, broke Kickstarter records in 2012 and reignited the smartwatch industry.Pros: long battery life, always-on screen readable in direct light or in the dark, light, waterproof to 30m, simple to use, great music controlsCons: no way to reply to messages, screen is smaller and doesn’t look as good as some, ties into iOS not as good as Apple Watch Continue reading...

Oxford University Press analysis reveals under-13s use the Twitter search term as a device for adding comment and emphasis in stories#interesting? #greatnews? #aaaaaaaargh? Regardless of your opinion, there is no getting away from the ubiquity of hashtag – today named children’s word of the year.

Chief executive Jonah Peretti has not offered a timeline for the move, but investors will want to know after site was valued at $850m in AugustBuzzFeed is planning an IPO, the company’s CEO, Jonah Peretti, announced at a tech conference on Wednesday. It’s a long-expected move from the wildly popular site, which in recent years has moved from simple aggregation and funny listicles into video, hard political news and arts coverage. Peretti didn’t say when the IPO would happen, but investors are likely to want to know soon.BuzzFeed’s mix of serious news articles and videos and sponsored content has led detractors, including Noam Chomsky, to criticise the company’s business model. More than once recently, BuzzFeed’s sponsors have demanded the removal of editorial content – and gotten their way. Consumers don’t seem to mind: the company’s videos boast a billion views a month, it told audiences in its annual presentation to prospective (and established) advertisers in Manhattan in April. And it produced more than 1,800 of those videos in the last 12 months.Related: Vox Media taking over tech site ReCode amid digital media shakeup Continue reading...

UK’s biggest retailer is overtaken by German discounter Aldi following accounting scandal, and loses 37% of its brand value in a year Continue reading...

RTL and ProSiebenSat1’s failed court case against maker Eyeo follows similar lawsuit by Zeit Online and Handelsblatt Continue reading...

Glitch causes iOS to choke when certain non-Latin script is sent in a text message, causing the device to crashA bug in Apple’s iOS means that anyone can crash an iPhone by simply sending it a certain string of characters in a message.

Facebook buys Surreal Vision, founded by three Imperial College students, to bolster Oculus’s virtual reality developmentA virtual reality company founded by three PhD students at Imperial College London has been bought by Facebook to combine with Oculus.Surreal Vision specialises in real-time 3D scene reconstruction to create accurate representations of the real world and allow users to interact with real-world objects from within VR.

Evan Spiegel to take $15bn video-messaging company public, rather than sell to a social-network rivalSnapchat’s chief executive has confirmed that he plans to take the company public rather than sell it to a larger firm.“We need to IPO,” Evan Spiegel, 24, told the Code conference in California. “We have a plan to do that.” Continue reading...

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

Video featuring vlogger Ruth Crilly of A Model Recommends did not indicate clearly it was marketing, says watchdog Continue reading...

Technological advances have made removing salt from seawater and waste water less energy-intensive, but will they simply encourage us to use more?The average Briton uses 150 litres of water a day; the average American gets through 570 litres of the stuff. The world is getting thirstier and the global demand for fresh water is rising by 640bn litres a year.Population growth is one factor, not only the need for drinking water and sanitation but also the need to produce more food. Agriculture accounts for 70% of water use.Related: Making rain: can technology drought-proof the Caribbean?Related: Is solar-powered desalination answer to water independence for California? Continue reading...