State Department and FBI announce $3m reward for information about Evgeniy Bogachev, accused of running computer attack network Continue reading...

Hanging out with Jay Z, dancing in Argentina and questionably billing public funds for flights on private jets, the Republican congressman has done it all Continue reading...

Ellen Pao claims Kleiner Perkins excluded her from meetings in first high-profile case of its kind not to have been settled out of court before trial Continue reading...

On Thursday, the FCC votes on whether to accept tough new rules to regulate the internet. Republicans aren’t happy – and they’re aiming to win back the debate Continue reading...

Pebble promises seven-day battery life for its new device, and hits $500k funding goal 17 minutes after launch of new crowdfunding campaignPebble, the company that ignited the smartwatch market with its $10.3m (£6.7m) crowdfunding campaign in 2012, has returned to Kickstarter with a new device called Pebble Time.The new version has a colour e-ink screen, a claimed battery life of seven days, and is 20% thinner than Pebble’s previous smartwatches. It can also track its wearer’s activity with a built-in accelerometer like a fitness band.Related: 2015 gears up to be the year of wearable tech Continue reading...

Emoji characters are a fun way to express yourself, as long as you’re white. A new update from Apple promises greater variety, but our world is wider than six skin tones and a smiling turd Continue reading...

Interior ministry announces detention of two suspects in north African enclave, and two in Barcelona and Girona, who targeted women using social media Continue reading...

The latest title in the multimillion selling shooter series swaps soldiers and terrorists for cops and robbers. But is the fantasy now too close for comfort?A helicopter swoops over a palatial mansion as armed gunmen burst in, jamming cartridges into their shotguns, preparing for an epic firefight. Pretty soon bullets are tearing up the interior as bodies crash through glass walls, and grenades pass the camera in slow-motion arcs. Quickly, the action cuts to a high-speed car chase, with vehicles plummeting along LA’s iconic storm drains. The shooting never stops.This is Battlefield: Hardline, the latest game in Electronic Arts’ long-running series of frenetic first-person shooters. As in previous instalments, players team up online to capture control points or carry packages through a gauntlet of enemy fire. But this time something’s different.Related: Battlefield: Hardline – hands-on with the cops and robbers shooter Continue reading...

Blogger, the company’s long-running blogging service, is cracking down on explicit material with just one month’s notice for affected usersGoogle is banning public explicit photos and videos from its blogging service Blogger, and giving affected users just one month to comply.The new rules require any blog with “sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video” to take them down by 23 March, or the blog will be made private by Google. A private blog can only be seen by the owner or admins of the blog, and people who the owner has shared the blog with. Continue reading...

Car company announces 100-car public trial in partnership with Swedish authorities which will see members of the public behind the wheelVolvo will test 100 of its autonomous cars on public roads driven in normal traffic by members of the public by 2017.

From bridges shaped like mandolins to funicular railways and twinkling pink loop-the-loops, architects unveil their ambitious schemes for a new crossing between Pimlico and Nine Elms in London. Here are the most eye-catching Continue reading...

Leading the march of cleaning machines into our homes, the Roomba 880 deserves its title as king of the robotic vacuums – but is it worth the price tag?In science fiction, robots are usually attempting to take over the world and kill us all. In real life, it turns out they can be rather useful for cleaning the lounge carpet. Terminator – of dust!The iRobot Roomba 880 is the current king of the robotic vacuums, but is it any good and how does it compare to a standard vacuum?

We often click and dismiss the warnings our computers give us, rather than acting on them. Worryingly, the reasons may be hardwired into our brainsWe may rely on computers, but we don’t notice what they’re telling us about online threats. Google recently had to redesign the security warnings in its Chrome web browser because most people were ignoring them. What’s even more worrying is that our brains may be hardwired to do so.Like most browsers, when Chrome visits a web site it checks the site’s online proof of identity, called an SSL certificate. This certificate come from a third party authority, which performs a background check on the site before issuing it.Related: From Goblin Panda to Flying Kitten: the latest online security threatsRelated: Security researcher publishes 10m usernames and passwords onlineRelated: How you could become a victim of cybercrime in 2015 Continue reading...

In criminal proceedings from accident claims to terrorism charges, how should the authorities strike the appropriate balance between justice and privacy?A criminal suspect can’t be forced to divulge their phone passcode, a US circuit court judge ruled in October 2014. Yet law enforcement officials can compel a suspect to provide a fingerprint – which they can then use to unlock the phone and obtain data which may prove the case against them.In an ongoing Canadian civil case, activity data from a Fitbit fitness band is being used to determine the truthfulness of an accident victim’s claim that she is less active now than before the accident. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterHey it’s Tuesday. And while I’m here, why not buy a ticket for our second ‘Meet the Guardian games writers’ evening on March 4 at the Guardian office. All the details are here. Continue reading...

The Indian parliament is on the brink of passing new legislation to introduce life-saving road safety laws. SaveLIFE Foundation’s Piyush Tewari reflects on the campaign he has championed Continue reading...

Poitras reveals she plans to release more footage from the Citizenfour shoot and Snowden shares his biggest regret

Mike Rogers mounts elaborate defense of Obama’s cybersecurity strategy and seeks to calm doubts about built-in access to companies’ data Continue reading...

Standalone app is free and ad-supported, offering a mixture of TV shows, educational videos, music and child-friendly vloggersYouTube is launching a separate app for children which will filter out inappropriate content, hide comments on videos and which will not allow them to register and log in to its service.The YouTube Kids app launches today in the US for Android and for iOS devices, and the company intends to roll it out elsewhere in the future. The app will be free and funded by advertising, although YouTube says it will be carefully screening ads to ensure they are appropriate for children.Related: This woman's thumbs are the biggest YouTube stars you've never heard ofRelated: YouTube's top 10 games channels watched 2.2bn times in January Continue reading...

Eleanor Dallaway considers how statistics really work, the future of data-led team selection and the importance of retaining a human touch in sport and in business Continue reading...

Sony’s steampunk shooter has been criticised for its linear design and short playtime – but it looks beautiful. And it’s sellingWith its evocative representation of Victorian London, its interesting steampunk narrative and its cinematic sense of scale and pace, The Order: 1886, looks very much the benchmark new-generation console title. There’s just one problem. It’s not much of a game.Developed by Ready at Dawn and Sony’s own Santa Monica studio, and released last week, the title has drawn criticism from game review sites for its overtly linear design, and the fact that it can be finished in around six to eight hours. There’s no multiplayer mode, so once the story of Arthurian knights protecting an alternate industrial-age London from hordes of beast people is over, that’s your lot. Continue reading...

Belgian privacy commission study concludes company’s use of user data violates privacy and data protection laws, despite January update

Komodia’s SSL hijacking package that could leave users open to security breach discovered in other software besides Lenovo-bundled adware

Blend of ‘kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats’ becomes third-biggest campaign of all-time on crowdfunding siteCard game Exploding Kittens has become the third biggest Kickstarter campaign of all-time, raising $8.8m (£5.7m) on the crowdfunding website.The game’s initial funding goal was just $10k, but it attracted 219,382 backers for its promised mix of “kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats” during its 30-day campaign.“The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck.The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.” Continue reading...

Some tests show that reading from a hard copy allows better concentration, while taking longhand notes versus typing onto laptops increases conceptual understanding and retention

Apple’s next big release is hotly anticipated by iPhone developers – and developers for Google’s rival smartwatch operating system Android Wear tooEven before having used an Apple Watch, Daniel Breslan is pretty sure how people will use his app, Departure Board, on one. “When you’re waiting in a station cafe, pub, lounge, you have you own personal departure board and you do not have to move to keep checking the screens on the platform,” he explains. His new app, which is in the final stages of testing, is a simple concept: it finds the nearest rail station to you, and tells you the destination and time of the next 20 trains - though on a watchface, you’ll probably only see three or four without scrolling. Continue reading...

Anti-monopoly authority confirms investigation following complaints from competitor Yandex, alleging company abuses smartphone operating system domination

The place to talk about games and other things that matterUh-oh, it’s Monday again. Continue reading...

And the top 100 gaming channels generated more than 6bn views that month, led by PewDiePie, Popular MMOs and StampyThe 10 most popular games channels on YouTube generated more than 2.2bn video views in January alone, led by Let’s Play gamer Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg with 417.9m views that month.PewDiePie topped the latest monthly chart of YouTube games channels published by online video industry site Tubefilter, based on data from analytics firm OpenSlate.Related: YouTube: PewDiePie, DC Toys Collector and Katy Perry top in 2014 Continue reading...

Facebook initiative to bring internet access to emerging markets focused on getting people online, but not (yet) on advertising to themAdvertising is not a “near term” priority for Facebook’s Internet.org initiative to get more people online in the developing world, according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.Facebook launched the scheme in 2013 with fellow technology firms including Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson and Nokia as its effort to connect “the next few billion people” to the internet.Related: Thank you, Facebook Inc, but what developing nations need is net freedom | Dan Gillmor Continue reading...

PS4, Xbox One, Linux, PC, Warner Bros, cert: 18 Continue reading...

Fresh from adding soundtrack feature to social app, Evan Spiegel hints at more plans to merge music and messaging in the futureSnapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel has hinted at plans to do more with music in his company’s popular messaging app, describing it as “a really interesting opportunity”“Music is really appealing to us right now because it has some of the same attributes that communication had when we were working on Snapchat in the beginning,” said Spiegel during an on-stage interview at the University of Southern California, reported by Daily Trojan.Related: Ten things you need to know about Snapchat Continue reading...

3DS, Nintendo, cert: E/3 Continue reading...

Twitter user tells the story of tonight’s big movies via emojis Continue reading...

Streaming service Music Key and YouTube Kids app to counter popularity of rivals such as Google and Facebook Continue reading...

The ‘awe-inspiring’ FCC internet protections leave cord cutters wanting. Their main complaint? Lack of competition among internet providers Continue reading...

The Federal Communications Commission has finally realised what most Americans have known for quite a while: internet is a utility. What might have felt like a luxury a decade ago is now necessary. Even as the FCC prepares to keep internet ‘open’ to all, it will not regulate prices or force cable and internet providers to share networks, according to FCC officials.As a utility, internet and cable account for a good chunk of Americans’ monthly expenses. To find how much Americans spend each month on such services we turned to our readers. Over 1,000 people shared with us how much they spend on cable and internet each month.How much do you spend on cable? Share with us here and we might add your response below Continue reading...

As officials prepare for ‘the most important FCC vote of our lifetime’, here is a quick primer on the much-debated issue of internet regulation Continue reading...

(3DS, VD-Dec, cert: 12) Continue reading...

Worried your new Rolls-Royce will clash with your wardrobe? Don’t panic, they’ll do it any colour you like Continue reading...

Artist and engineer Brendan Walker is attempting to create a new breed of virtual-reality theme-park attraction that appears to use your own thoughts to add excitement to the experience. His invention will be on show at FutureFest in London next month…

Want a glimpse of what the future might hold? Find out from the star speakers at a London conference Continue reading...

Food delivery service to launch first in Barcelona as the company looks to expand beyond cabs in attempt to justify its $40bn valuation Continue reading...

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate | Evolve | Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy+ Continue reading...

When a friend posted a photograph of charity worker Lindsey Stone on Facebook, she never dreamed she would lose her job and her reputation. Two years on, could she get her life back?In early January 2012, I noticed that another Jon Ronson had started posting on Twitter. His photograph was a photograph of my face. His Twitter name was @jon_ronson. His most recent tweet read: “Going home. Gotta get the recipe for a huge plate of guarana and mussel in a bap with mayonnaise :D #yummy.”“Who are you?” I tweeted him.Someone called @jon_ronson was tweeting 20 times a day about his whirlwind of social engagements, soirées and friendsMichael got sign-ups from people saying, ‘At 17 I was a Nazi. The internet still thinks I’m a Nazi’Lindsey incurred the internet’s wrath because she was outspoken. Now she was reducing herself to cats and chart musicNot cool. Jokes about forking repo's in a sexual way and "big" dongles. Right behind me #pycon pic.twitter.com/Hv1bkeOsYP'He’s a white male,' Adria said. 'I’m a black Jewish female. He said things that could be inferred as offensive to me'Lindsey hadn’t Googled herself for 11 months. Ex-army people were wondering where she was – ‘not in a good way’ Continue reading...

‘The Twingo is so light and nimble, it feels as though you could increase the heft of the car just by having a substantial meal’ Continue reading...

Snowden leak reveals that the US and UK security services hacked into servers and stole the access keys to billions of sim cards around the worldThe latest revelations from the NSA files have shown that US and UK surveillance agencies could have the ability to listen in on billions of mobile phone calls from around the world. But how can they do that, and what does it mean for the general public? And should you be worried?Related: Sim card database hack gave US and UK spies access to billions of cellphonesRelated: Security services capable of bypassing encryption, draft code revealsRelated: NSA surveillance: how to stay secure | Bruce Schneier Continue reading...

With retail profit margins shrinking, the consumer PC has become a collection of auctionable software elements