Peter has been having problems with his old Samsung N130 netbook locking up, and is wondering what to do with it. Upgrade it or buy a tablet that can run Microsoft Office? Jack Schofield reckons a 2-in-1 or convertible laptop can do both jobs. Continue reading...

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

The social news site is almost as famous for its never-ending supply of creepy subforums as it is for memes, pictures and assorted lols. Can its new CEO change that? And should she?When Ellen Pao became chief executive of the social news site Reddit in November 2014, few thought her tenure would change the make-up of the site that bills itself the “front page of the internet”. Thrust into the limelight by the surprise resignation of the company’s previous CEO Yishan Wong, Pao had only joined Reddit the previous year, working on building “strategic partnerships that benefit the community”.And yet just four months after starting, she has led the site through one of its biggest steps towards being the mainstream hub that that “front page” billing has always implied was its aim. In the wake of the vast cache of nude celebrity photos, leaked on 4chan but rapidly centered on “The Fappening”, a Reddit subforum (or “subreddit”) which swelled to millions of members before being shut down by the site’s administrators, Reddit has banned “involuntary pornography” entirely. Continue reading...

The simple programming tool Scratch is a brilliant introduction to making games – just don’t expect to make Minecraft overnightWe can’t work out how to make the witch smaller. That is an actual problem in my life right now.I’m making a game with my nine-year-old son, Zac. We’re using the simple programming tool Scratch, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It’s designed to extrapolate all the basics of coding into one comparatively straightforward “drag and drop” interface, and it’s used in schools all over the world. The idea is that you gradually build lines of code by interlocking the various different commands together like jigsaw pieces, selecting them from themed menus and pulling them onto a workspace. The package, which is available for free online and runs in practically any browser screen, provides all sorts of tutorials and sample routines, as well as a library of sprites and backgrounds to use. You just have to fit it all together, using basic logic.@keefstuart Try this out: pic.twitter.com/vdKwpBM3Vi@keefstuart It's still colliding with the edge so you'll probably need to move it away from there. pic.twitter.com/usB9QQxox9@keefstuart You're welcome. Check out the Costumes tab. Create a flipped image of the witch there. pic.twitter.com/0IL1oPlEFChttps://t.co/QMXusoPa0CRelated: Minecraft's creator will always be a hero to me, he gave my autistic son a voice Continue reading...

Judge rules technology company must answer US class-action lawsuit representing hundreds of thousands of peopleA US federal judge said Facebook Inc must face a nationwide class-action lawsuit seeking to force the social media company to provide refunds when children spend their parents’ money on its website without permission.

Judge in The Hague says country’s regime for retaining telephone and internet users helps to solve crime but is too intrusiveA judge has scrapped the Netherlands’ data retention law, saying that while it helps solve crime it also breaches the privacy of telephone and Internet users.The ruling by a judge in The Hague followed a similar decision in April by the European Union’s top court that wiped out EU data collection legislation it deemed too broad and offering too few privacy safeguards. Continue reading...

Fluffy claims to be the next evolution of the vacuum cleaner - but it’s weirdly stroke-ableDyson has launched a “Fluffly” cordless vacuum cleaner which it claims to be the next step in cleaners with a soft paint-roller-like brush.The new brush head is covered in a soft, padded nylon, interspersed between traditional bristles and is designed to be much more effective at picking up fine dust. To the touch, it’s weirdly stroke-able - not something usually associated with a vacuum cleaner. Continue reading...

Nonny de la Peña has made an immersive reconstruction of the Trayvon Martin shooting and thinks in future all stories will be shot with 3D, 360-degree cameras Continue reading...

In the not so distant future, every object in your life will be online and talking to one another. It’ll transform the way we live and work - but will the benefits outweigh the dangers?

In a post on Google Plus, Patrick Pichette announces he will be retiring, aged 52 to spend more time with his family and go backpacking around the world Continue reading...

The deal we have struck with the information society over the extent to which our lives are shaped and our privacy invaded requires urgent renegotiationThere is something profoundly unsettling and unedifying at the heart of the contemporary information economy. Captivated by shiny devices, services and apps, manipulated by information merchants, and unprotected by barnacle-encrusted law and institutions, we are losing - or have lost - control.This is the message of American legal scholar, Julie E Cohen, a prominent thinker on networked information technologies, visiting London to give the annual Law and Media and Communications lecture at the LSE on Wednesday evening.

The team take the long view of Apple's smart watch and review Apple Pay expansion and the rise of the MacBook Continue reading...

Despite assurances from Apple that the online services were live, widespread reports of outages suggest problems in Cupertino with iCloud and iTunesApple’s online services are experiencing sporadic outages, affecting users of software as diverse as iTunes, Game Centre and iCloud.The company’s iCloud system status page initially showed no reported issues, even as users were unable to log in to iCloud, download new apps, or play multiplayer games.I see the downside of storing important files on #icloud when the system goes down and you cannot log in. Fortunately I don't do that!!All my iCloud documents are not accessible from my iPad now after a restore. Seems like iCloud is down to some extent. Continue reading...

Dixons Carphone’s Seb James says rise of household gadgets connected via the internet means new services will be needed to meet shift in consumer behaviour Continue reading...

The new MacBook trackpad and haptic feedback technology could be coming to the iPhone next year and represents the next evolution of touch inputApple’s new super-thin MacBook comes with a new trackpad technology that detects the force of a tap or press and is expected to be added to the iPhone next year. But what is “force touch”, how does it work and what on earth is a “taptic engine”?Beyond the hype and buzz around the Apple Watch launch on Monday evening, a piece of technology that could change the way we interact with our computers and smartphones was unveiled. But it wasn’t a wearable device, nor a new phone. It was a new laptop fitted with a new type of trackpad. Continue reading...

PewDiePie and other stars on Disney-owned multichannel network take responsibility for their content, says René Rechtman Continue reading...

First app for Apple devices was pulled in late 2013, but all-new version is returning to the App Store after 4m downloads on Android Continue reading...

Trafalgar Square gallery joins Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim in banning gadgets, while British Museum considers similar move Continue reading...

Business news wesbite follows Indian launch with African team of about five based in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa Continue reading...

All the hallucinogenic visuals and thumping techno atmosphere of the first title with little of its gruesome sandbox brillianceHotline Miami 2 is a game about killing people as stylishly, efficiently, and brutally as possible. There’s no attempt to rationalise or apologise for its extreme violence. In fact, the game revels in it. Drenched in gaudy neon and soundtracked by a playlist of aggressive, pounding techno, it’s an intoxicating assault on the senses. Playing with a good set of headphones, beating Russian gangsters with baseball bats to the throbbing beat, you can’t help but be hypnotised by its decadent, exhilarating cocktail of masochistic, rapid-fire action.

‘Father of the iPod’ Tony Fadell may be planning to take on Sonos and other connected hi-fi firms with expansion into audio software and hardwareNest’s smart thermostat and smoke alarm products persuaded Google to buy it for $3.2bn in January 2014. Now the company seems to be planning a move into a new area: home audio.A recruitment ad on Nest’s website – first spotted by TechCrunch – is seeking a “highly technical Head of Audio to lead the development of Nest Audio across hardware and software, present and future”.Related: Father of the iPod adopts the household thermostat and smoke alarm Continue reading...

Parliamentary body says that the darknet can be used for positive activity such as whistleblowing and activism as well as criminal actsBanning online anonymity systems such as Tor in Britain is neither practical nor acceptable, according to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.The opinion from Post, which provides independent analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology, is offered in a new paper about the darknet and online anonymity.Related: What is Tor? A beginner's guide to the privacy tool Continue reading...

Lohan Presencer takes aim at audio services such as Spotify, Deezer and Rdio - and calls for a YouTube paywallIf Ministry of Sound boss Lohan Presencer had his way, there would be no free option for streaming music services such as Spotify, Deezer and Rdio - or YouTube for that matter.Related: Ministry of Sound sues Spotify for copyright infringementRelated: The future of music sales is here. So how CAN the artists make it pay? Continue reading...

Fans are up in arms after Fifa bosses turned off the popular Ultimate Team auction system and replaced it with price tiers for every item in the gameThere is trouble on the virtual terraces of the best-selling Fifa video game series. Fans have reacted with fury to changes announced by developer EA Sports, which will radically alter the game’s popular Ultimate Team feature.For many, the eBay-style open-auction transfer market that underpinned the mode’s gameplay – which involves building a “deck” of player trading cards into a fantasy team – was one of its biggest pulls. Bagging an in-form player at a bargain price, usually by purchasing their card at 2am when fewer participants are online, led to moments of punch-the-air euphoria. With some Harry-Redknapp-style wheeler and dealing the purchase could be immediately flipped back onto the market with a higher starting price – a much faster way of acquiring in-game currency than actually playing matches. And the faster you made coins, the quicker the world’s best players could be secured for your fantasy line-up.Related: Fifa 15 review – not flawless, but still the best Continue reading...

Guardian, Telegraph and YouTube offer to move forward date of proposed online debate to ‘remove one stumbling block’ Continue reading...

The new Edition smartwatch is certainly expensive, but how long, in relative terms, would it take to buy one in each of the nine countries where it is launching?Apple signalled its move into the luxury goods space with the introduction of its Edition collection of smartwatches on Tuesday. The most expensive of the three tiers of Apple Watch will set you back at least $10,000 in the US and £8,000 in the UK.A recent New Yorker profile of Apple’s chief designer, Jonathan Ive, revealed that there were discussions over whether the company could keep being a brand for everyone with the introduction of a product line targeted at such a rich demographic. Continue reading...

The Guardian is co-organising a news game jam at the Rezzed gaming festival in London. Could this kind of experiment lead to new forms of journalism?This week, the Guardian is co-organising a news game jam at the Rezzed PC gaming festival in London. Small teams of coders and designers will be given a selection of recent stories from the newspaper, and will then have 48 hours to create games based around the article they choose. The best entries will be made available via the Guardian site.The idea of a “news game” is not, in fact, new. Since the mid-nineties, when web plug-ins like Flash made it possible to produce quick, cheap games then distribute them online, developers have been creating interactive news experiments. Italian studio Molleindustria was a pioneer, launching the fast food satire McDonald’s Game and oil business expose Oiligarchy, while US developer Persuasive Games has tackled subjects like mass food production (Bacteria Salad) and airport customs (Airport Insecurity).Related: Firestorm: The story of the bushfire at DunalleyRelated: The refugee challenge: can you break into Fortress Europe? - interactiveRelated: Newsgame hackathon: can we make a game with no coding experience? Continue reading...

Research firm eMarketer predicts that there’ll be 32.8m British tablet users this year, with just over half of them using Apple’s iPadMore than half of the UK population will be regularly using tablet computers in 2015, up from a third in 2013, but the growth is set to slow “dramatically” in the coming years according to research firm eMarketer.The company’s latest predictions for the UK tablet market claim that 32.8 million Brits will be using a tablet at least once a month in 2015, representing 51% of the population – and 64.1% of internet users. Continue reading...

The departure of Patrick Pichette, who has been at the tech firm since 2008, is the latest in a recent string of changes to the company’s senior managementGoogle Inc’s chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, has announced his intention to retire, the company announced on Tuesday. His decision marks the latest in a number of recent changes to the internet company’s upper ranks.Google expects to find a replacement for Pichette within six months, the company said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ellen Pao said she is suing her former venture capital firm for eight figures because only an amount that large would ‘hit their radar’The woman at the center of a landmark $16m Silicon Valley sex discrimination case said she was suing her former venture capital employer for such a large amount because only an eight-figure settlement would “hit their radar” and force change in the west coast technology scene’s “boys’ club”.

Answer these simple questions and resolve the most pressing consumer dilemma of the week – to splash out on another Apple gadget or not? Continue reading...

Popbitch rival launched by Jamie East in 2002 was bought by Big Brother and MasterChef producer Endemol Shine Continue reading...

140 vehicles to be added to government fleet in move hailed as important step by minister, but only four ministerial cars will be replaced in first round Continue reading...

Lawsuit against spy agency and Justice Department challenges ‘suspicionless seizure and searching of internet traffic’ uncovered by Edward Snowden Continue reading...

Sadly, the video game console platform is the most interesting thing about this superhero TV show based on a comic book series Continue reading...

Ride-share service announces initiative in light of several driver assaults on passengers but says women won’t yet have the ability to request female driversRide-hailing app Uber, under the microscope due to a handful of driver assaults on passengers in some cities, pledged in a blog post to sign up 1 million female drivers globally by 2020.The ride service did not provide comparable figures for how many women drivers are on the Uber service globally today. In the United States, about 14% of its 160,000 drivers are female, the company said, and the company adds thousands more drivers each month.Related: Uber should be keeping women safe, but Uber has a woman problem | Megan Carpentier Continue reading...

Tim Cook has announced the Apple Watch, including a solid gold version for £13,500. But who would actually buy it? And why would they want to?It’s difficult to know what the defining news moment of 2015 has been so far: the consecration of the first female bishop in the UK? The explosive Westminster cash-for-access scandal? Patricia Arquette’s inspiring call for equality in her Oscars speech?

Influential website founded by Om Malik draws tributes as it announces it is winding down – but it says it is not yet filing for bankruptcy Continue reading...

NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance is more about disrupting political opposition than catching terrorists

Kind of interested in the new gadget but can’t really be bothered to plough through the millions of words written about it? Now read on ... Continue reading...

Agency tried to create dummy version of development software that would allow it to insert surveillance back doors into appsThe CIA led sophisticated intelligence agency efforts to undermine the encryption used in Apple phones, as well as insert secret surveillance back doors into apps, top-secret documents published by the Intercept online news site have revealed.The newly disclosed documents from the National Security Agency’s internal systems show surveillance methods were presented at its secret annual conference, known as the “jamboree”. Continue reading...

Analysts see mostly risk in the release of the line of smartwatches, from pricing – £13,500 for a rose-gold version – to demand and even profit margin Continue reading...

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

BMW app, 18-carat gold casing, launched with the help of a supermodel – Apple moves further into luxury market with the launch of its first smartwatch Continue reading...

The latest Dragon Age game creates a feminist, gender-blind utopiaI think I am in love with Dorian from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Which puts me in a worse-than-usual fix. No woman ever stood a chance with Dorian from Dragon Age. And he’s a fictional character in an entirely made-up game universe. Fucksticks.Enormous and immediate apologies to Wendy Cope for that, but when you descend to stealing someone else’s love poetry to express how you’re feeling about a videogame character, you know you’re in trouble. Dragon Age: Inquisition, released at Christmas for PS4, Xbox One and PC, is rapidly gaining a reputation among fangirls everywhere not so much for its richly imagined game world and its enjoyable battle mechanics but for its romance and sex elements. Continue reading...

The Californian technology company revealed full details of its smartwatch range, including a luxury range that starts with a solid 18-carat gold version for $10,000

Monitoring activity could help patients take better care of their health and allow doctors and nurses to keep abreast of changes without several appointments