The global ag-tech revolution has sped up in recent years, spurring a debate on how it will affect the workforceThe robots have arrived in California’s fields. This summer, a self-driving tractor was spotted working rows of vines in Napa valley. Described as resembling a “souped-up golf cart”, the tractor runs on an electric battery and can be operated remotely with an app.Farther south, strawberry harvesting robots have been picking fruit. Complete with wheels, clipper-tipped arms and a catchment tray, its maker claims the machine can pick almost as many berries as a human with 95% accuracy. Continue reading...
by Alexi Duggins, Hollie Richardson, Hannah Verdier, on (#63CVZ)
In this week’s newsletter: The iconic Icelandic singer reveals all about her creative process in Björk: Sonic Symbolism. Plus: five of the best internet culture podcasts
Omri Goren Gorochovsky admitted contacting Black Shadow hacking collective linked to IranA housekeeper who worked for Israel’s defence minister has been jailed for offering to spy on his employer for an Iran-linked hacking group.Omri Goren Gorochovsky, a resident of the central city of Lod, was sentenced to three years in prison by an Israeli court on Tuesday after being found guilty of attempting to pass on information to an enemy entity. Initial espionage charges were dropped under a plea deal. Continue reading...
Injection of $1.3bn for former president’s media company looks set to be derailed because of lackluster investor supportDonald Trump’s beleaguered social media company is facing further financial turmoil after a long-awaited $1.3bn cash injection looks set to be derailed due to lackluster investor backing.Shareholders of the special purpose acquisitions firm, which last year brokered a deal to take the Trump Media and Technology Group public, have not backed a one-year extension to complete the transaction, which threatens to spoil the merger. Continue reading...
Streaming platform reportedly brings forward low-cost option initially planned for 2023 to get ahead of similar service with ads from Disney+Netflix will reportedly launch a cheaper ad-supported tier for its streaming platform at the start of November as the company tries to stem the loss of more than 1 million subscribers in 2022.The company was initially planning to start offering the service in 2023, but Variety reported last week it had been bumped to 1 November in order to get ahead of Disney+’s planned launch of an ad-supported tier in December. Continue reading...
New rules in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cover all notionally valuable digital assetsCrypto exchanges must report suspected sanctions breaches to UK authorities under new rules brought in amid concerns that bitcoin and other cryptoassets are being used to dodge restrictions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Official guidance was updated on 30 August to explicitly include “cryptoassets” among those that must be frozen if sanctions are imposed on a person or company. As well as digital currencies, such as bitcoin, ether and tether, cryptoassets could include other notionally valuable digital assets such as non-fungible tokens. Continue reading...
From music to movies, technology to food, the world has fallen in love with everything South Korean. Ahead of a big London exhibition, Tim Adams visits Seoul in search of the origins of hallyu – the Korean wave
Video podcasts are booming, giving creators access to new audiences. But does this risk ruining what made the audio format so satisfying?“SECRET group of geniuses KILL for fun.” In a recent video podcast on his true crime YouTube channel MrBallen, John Allen tells the story of a mysterious poisoning involving Mensa that took place in rural Florida. The video of Allen, wearing his signature blue plaid shirt and backwards cap, speaking insistently into the camera, has garnered close to 4m views.MrBallen is an example of the blurring of the lines between podcasts and Youtube. His YouTube channel launched in 2020 and counts more than 6 million subscribers. The podcast – available on the likes of Spotify and Apple – followed in February, and is already attracting up to 7m monthly downloads. Continue reading...
British startup Maeving is in the vanguard of a growing market worldwide for clean two-wheeled travelThe motorcycle industry has problems: its petrolhead riders are ageing, customer numbers are shrinking and bans on fossil-fuel power are looming.Startup bike-maker Maeving thinks batteries are the answer to all three. Its RM1 motorbike swaps a noisy petrol engine for a near-silent electric motor and clean retro styling. During a test ride at the company’s factory near Coventry – by the Observer’s photographer – the experience is smooth, agile and gearless. Continue reading...
The musician on the artistic commitment of Mitski, the lasting value of Peep Show and her new favourite snacksIsle of Wight musician Rhian Teasdale formed indie rock duo Wet Leg with Hester Chambers in 2019. The band released two singles in 2021, Chaise Longue and Wet Dream, which became instant hits thanks to their witty lyrics and sense of fun. Wet Leg’s self-titled debut album was released in April and is shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury prize, which is announced on Thursday. Wet Leg tour the UK and Ireland from 13-27 November. Continue reading...
James Owens used codewords, euphemisms and fake accent to dodge monitors and identificationYouTube has closed down a channel used by an extremist, named “Britain’s most racist YouTuber”, for breaching its hate speech policies.James Owens, 37, used codewords and euphemisms to bypass automated monitoring on the video platform and broadcast attacks on Jewish and black people, it was reported. Continue reading...
Prototype designed using chemical in crustacean shells remains 99.7% efficient after about 400 hoursScientists want to use a chemical found in crab and lobster shells to make batteries more sustainable, according to research.“We think both biodegradability of material, or environmental impact, and the performance of the batteries are important for a product, which has the potential to be commercialised,” said Liangbing Hu, the director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Materials Innovation and lead author of the paper, published in the journal Matter. Continue reading...
Competition watchdog asks companies to address questions, with possible investigation to followThe UK’s competition regulator has raised concerns about Microsoft’s $68.7bn (£59.6bn) deal to buy the Call of Duty publisher, Activision Blizzard, and given the two companies five days to offer solutions.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned that the Xbox owner’s proposed takeover of the company behind popular titles including World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, which would be the biggest ever gaming industry merger, “could substantially lessen competition in gaming consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services”. Continue reading...
Social media giant says much-requested feature lets users change tweets for up to 30 minutesTwitter is trialing an editing feature that allows users to change tweets up to 30 minutes after they are published – but lets people view prior versions.The social media company said tweets can be edited “a few times” in the half hour. Continue reading...
by Alexi Duggins, Hollie Richardson, Hannah Verdier a on (#634N6)
In this week’s newsletter: Close friend Serena Williams joins Markle for the intimate debut of her long-awaited show. Plus: five of the best podcasts on disability
Digital minister Taro Kono wants to follow up his bid to phase out faxes by getting rid of floppy disks – but he faces opposition from bureaucratsJapan’s digital minister has declared war on floppy disks, decades after the technology became largely obsolete, but could encounter opposition from nostalgic devotees inside the country’s vast bureaucracy.Taro Kono said he would expand his quest to rid the bureaucracy of outdated tools by phasing out disks and moving administrative procedures online. Continue reading...
US firm Snap to focus on its core messaging product as it reports revenue growth well below expectationsThe company behind Snapchat is making about 1,300 staff redundant and cutting investment in projects such as augmented reality glasses, as the social media business fights an advertising downturn.Snap’s chief executive said the latest quarterly revenue growth of 8% was “well below” expectations and the company’s planning includes assumptions that a weak advertising market continues into next year. Continue reading...
Google Play Store still has not authorized distribution of app, denying it access to 40% of US smartphone marketDonald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social has not yet been approved for distribution on the Google Play Store due to insufficient content moderation, a Google spokesperson said on Tuesday.Truth Social launched in the Apple App store on 21 February, but the delay on Google Play marks a setback for the app. Android phones comprise about 40% of the US smartphone market. Continue reading...
Bill approved Monday will require companies to install guardrails for those under age 18 and use higher privacy settingsCalifornia lawmakers passed first-of-its-kind legislation on Monday designed to improve the online safety and privacy protections for children.The bill, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, will require firms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to install guardrails for users under the age of 18, including defaulting to higher privacy settings for minors and refraining from collecting location data for those users. Continue reading...
Be the GOAT in the return of one of gaming’s most ridiculously enjoyable success storiesDolly Parton once said, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” Likewise, making an intentionally janky game seems trickier than it looks. Working on the sequel to 2014’s divisively meme-rich Goat Simulator, Stockholm-based studio Coffee Stain North has made a fine art out of looking shambolic. (There was no Goat Simulator 2, by the way. That’s part of the joke.)If you missed it back then, the premise of the sim is simple: you inhabit the least accurately simulated animal ever, causing caprine chaos in a sandbox world with no objectives, earning points along the way for damaging things, performing Tony Hawk-style tricks and licking stuff. Sometimes the goat rides around with a jetpack, sometimes it gets abducted by aliens; sometimes it becomes evil and sacrifices a fellow goat on a fiery pentagram. It’s dumb. It makes no sense. And that’s the point. So, how do you follow it up with something substantial?Goat Simulator 3 is out 17 November on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox and PC. Continue reading...
Force says tactic is ‘easy way to get drivers to slow down’ after budget cuts reduced traffic policing numbersSurrey’s police force has been accused of operating “phantom units” after traffic officers admitted to providing misleading data to a satnav app.Officers said on Twitter that they falsely reported their locations as stationary on the Waze traffic app, which suggests they may be operating a speed trap, when they were in fact driving.
by Dan Milmo, global technology editor on (#632BC)
Tesla chief is trying to withdraw from his agreement to a $44bn takeover of the social media platformElon Musk has formally added last week’s whistleblower allegations against Twitter as a reason for terminating his $44bn (£37.7bn) takeover of the social media platform, as he also sought to delay a trial related to the deal.Representatives of the Tesla CEO said accusations of “far-reaching misconduct” at Twitter from Peiter Zatko, the company’s former head of security, constituted a further breach of the deal. Continue reading...
Prices of PlayStation 5 consoles are rising despite the tough financial situations many are in – even as PS sales are at $20bnI am back from a week of running around Gamescom at a convention centre in Cologne, drinking German beer out of deceptively tiny-looking glasses, only to discover that Sony is – in this economy! – raising the price of the PlayStation 5. The cost will remain the same in the US but everywhere else it will rise by up to 20%; in the UK, it will increase 6%, from £449.99 to £479.99 (or £359.99 to £389.99 for the cheaper model that has no disc drive). The hike is steepest (21%) in Sony’s heartland of Japan.Given that middle earners are trimming costs and lower earners are facing heartbreaking choices between, for instance, food and heating when energy prices double this winter, this news has put me into a stage of late-stage-capitalism rage. Many are striking because people can’t afford to live any more. Small businesses are will close because they’re not going to be able to absorb endless increases in costs. All of us are worried, many of us are struggling. This is not the time to pass along increases in manufacturing costs to customers. Sony is displaying an unfortunate arrogance that reminds me of the early days of PS3, when then-PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi suggested that people should simply work more hours to afford the console’s $599 launch price. The fact that the increase is highest in the two markets Sony dominates – Japan and Europe – displays unseemly complacency. Continue reading...
The lawsuit against data broker Kochava seeks to halt the sale of geolocation data from hundreds of millions of devicesThe US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday sued Idaho-based data broker Kochava for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that could be used to track consumers.The FTC said consumer data could be used to trace people’s movements to and from sensitive locations including “reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and addiction recovery facilities”. Continue reading...
Billionaire seeking documents on company’s spam, claiming it misled him about true number of bot accountsElon Musk has subpoenaed a former Twitter employee who has accused the social media company of poor spam policies and security vulnerabilities as the billionaire battles to get out of his $44bn agreement to buy Twitter.Musk is seeking documents and communications from Twitter’s former security chief, Peiter Zatko, who last week filed an 84-page whistleblower complaint claiming the company is running dangerously outdated software and falling behind in its battle against spam accounts. Continue reading...
The ‘merge’ project will end role of miners in blockchain ecosystem to help reduce electricity usageEthereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, will complete a plan to lower its carbon emissions by more than 99% in the next month, the foundation that controls the platform has confirmed.The project, called “the merge”, will result in ethereum switching the underlying technology it uses for validating crypto transactions to a new process that requires less energy to manage. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#630SD)
UK intelligence service funding ‘nano-degree’ courses in effort to improve diversity in technology rolesBritain’s intelligence services want to boost the number of female coders in their ranks, warning they need to improve diversity to tackle threats ranging from foreign states to child online safety.GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, is funding 14-week “nano-degrees” in data and software to help women who might have previously been put off coding to make a career change. The agency celebrates the birthday of Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron credited by some as writing the first computer programme in the early 1840s. But in 2022 only a third of staff at the agency are women, and fewer are in technology roles. Continue reading...
Small-scale investors left counting the cost this year after value of digital assets fell off a cliff“If I’d sold everything, I would’ve had a quarter of a million pounds,” Duncan* says ruefully of the staggering worth of his cryptocurrency holdings at the start of this year.Like lots of amateur investors, the 47-year-old former primary schoolteacher got into cryptocurrencies in a big way during the coronavirus pandemic, ploughing his life savings into a portfolio that was ballooning in value and that he believed would enable him to get on the property ladder. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#630MT)
Chic hi-tech Android flip phone has better cameras and longer battery life, losing none of its noveltySamsung’s hi-tech flip phone has been a bit of a hit over the past year. Now the Z Flip is back for 2022, with better cameras, a faster chip, longer battery life and more customisation options than ever, as the company attempts to appeal to those bored of flat phones and looking for something more exciting.You still have to pay a pretty penny for that cutting-edge appeal. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 costs £999 ($999/A$1,499), which is roughly in line with what you would pay for a premium standard phone, but it is likely to be frequently found at a discount.Main screen: 6.7in FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex Display (425ppi)Cover screen: 1.9in AMOLED (302ppi)Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1RAM: 8GB of RAMStorage: 128, 256 or 512GBOperating system: One UI 4.1.1 based on Android 12Camera: dual 12MP rear, 10MP front-facingConnectivity: 5G, nano sim + esim, wifi6, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and GNSSWater resistance: IPX8 (1.5-metre depths for 30 minutes)Folded dimensions: 84.9 x 71.9 x 17.1 to 15.9mmUnfolded dimensions: 165.2 x 72.2 x 6.9mmWeight: 187g Continue reading...
A long and detailed complaint about lax practices by the social media firm’s former security chief must be music to Elon Musk’s ears“Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies,” said the CNN headline. My initial reaction? Yawn… so what’s new: a social media company playing fast and loose with its users’ data? And who’s this whistleblower, anyway? A guy called Peiter Zatko. Never heard of him. Probably another tech bro who’s discovered his conscience…But what’s this? He has a nickname – “Mudge”. (Cue audio of pennies dropping.) The mainstream media calls him a “hacker”, which is their usual way of undermining a gifted software expert. Which this Mudge certainly is. In fact, in that line of business, he has blue-chip status. He was the highest-profile member of a famous hacker thinktank, the L0pht (pronounced “loft”) and a member of the well-known cooperative Cult of the Dead Cow. In that sense, he was a pioneer of “hacktivism” who has spent much of his life trying to educate the world on cybersecurity and has a long list of discovered vulnerabilities to his credit. Continue reading...
Digital parking has spread rapidly across Britain, but campaigners say it is stressful or inaccessible for manyAll summer, exasperated motorists have been jabbing at their phones, trying to download and install yet another parking app. Then follows the interminable chore of entering card details and number plate, which may ultimately be derailed by poor phone signal or a glitchy app.Anti-ageism campaigners say navigating the process can be overwhelming for some older people who, in the words of the veteran consumer champion Dame Esther Rantzen, risk being “imprisoned at home”. Continue reading...
One of the world’s biggest e-commerce companies is known for rock-bottom prices – and allegedly brutal conditionsAmericans addicted to Amazon could soon be wooed by a Chinese tech giant most of them have never heard of. Pinduoduo is planning to expand its reach to the US next month, according to reports in Bloomberg and Reuters. The company is known for delivering goods at rock-bottom prices – while putting its employees through conditions that a prominent labor activist says should horrify Americans.Described by its founder, the former Google employee Colin Huang, as a cross between “Costco and Disneyland”, Pinduoduo has ridden a wave of meteoric Chinese tech growth to become one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world since its founding in 2015. Continue reading...
Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko says company deceived users, board members and federal government about strength of its security measuresTwitter’s former head of security has accused the company of “extreme, egregious deficiencies” in its handling of user information and spam bots in a scathing whistleblower complaint.Peiter Zatko, a veteran hacker and security expert known as “Mudge”, says the company has deceived users, board members and the federal government about the strength of its security measures. Zatko was hired in 2020 by the Twitter co-founder and then CEO Jack Dorsey to strengthen the company’s security after a mass hack targeted 130 high-profile Twitter accounts. Continue reading...
Vicky Littler and Anthony Weir respond to articles in the Guardian series Swipe right: the decade that changed datingLike Gatsby’s endless examination of Daisy’s green light across the bay, the singleton’s incessant search for “ideal” remains always out of reach (I’m a dating app evangelist – but even I’m not on Tinder any more, 15 August; Dating apps have made our love lives hell. Why do we keep using them?, 16 August).The promise exceeds what reality will deliver: the facade of beauty, wit and chemistry conjured through our screens belies doctored images, unrepentant creeps and bores. The collective romantic subconscious, carefully curated by Disney and Richard Curtis, cannot survive its collision with reality. Continue reading...
Restore law to Gotham, explore medieval Bavaria or skateboard like a pro… it’s all to play for in these new titlesNintendo’s brilliantly fun and untouchably cool take on the shooting game involves kids who can transform into squids and octopuses to swim through lakes of paint, splattering the level (and the opposing team) with colour to clinch victory.
This summer, a forthcoming Street Fighter game was revealed with a striking new look. Its developers explain how they’re trying to make a beat ‘em up that everyone can playIf there’s one name synonymous with fighting games, it’s Street Fighter. Dominating arcades in the late 80s and 90s and spawning the living room-conquering Super Nintendo classic Street Fighter II, Capcom’s beat ’em up became a cultural phenomenon. But since the death of the arcade, fighting games have become more niche. While 2016’s Street Fighter V slowly became a competitive esports sensation, it lacked the earlier games’ universal appeal. Now, 31 years after Street Fighter II, Capcom is reinventing its prize fighter for a new generation. Visually, Street Fighter 6 is forging a new identity for the franchise, sporting an eye-catching aesthetic that combines unattainably bulging biceps with attacks that explode in a burst of colour.“I really want to make Street Fighter a game that everyone can play, like it used to be,” producer and series veteran Shuhei Matsumoto tells the Guardian. Offering a radical overhaul to its controls, Street Fighter 6 is a more accessible twist on spin-kicking, fireball-throwing fighting spectacle. A newbie-friendly control option ditches the classic six-button setup of high and low punches and kicks in favour of a simpler three-button structure, allowing first-timers to pull off a Shoryuken without spending months developing the muscle memory. Continue reading...
Experts say case highlights dangers of automated detection of child sexual abuse imagesGoogle has refused to reinstate a man’s account after it wrongly flagged medical images he took of his son’s groin as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the New York Times first reported. Experts say it’s an inevitable pitfall of trying to apply a technological solution to a societal problem.Experts have long warned about the limitations of automated child sexual abuse image detection systems, particularly as companies face regulatory and public pressure to help address the existence of sexual abuse material. Continue reading...
Tesla CEO’s attempt to back out of acquisition of social media company heads for trial in Delaware on 17 OctoberElon Musk has subpoenaed his friend and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as part of an effort to back out of his $44bn agreement to acquire the social media platform.The subpoena was revealed in a court document on Monday. Continue reading...
UK home secretary hits out at Facebook’s owner over move that could hinder child abuse investigationsPriti Patel has hit out at Facebook’s plans to encrypt direct messages, even as the company is facing criticism in the US for failing to protect the privacy of women seeking abortions.The UK home secretary has urged Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp, to give up on its intentions to apply “end-to-end encryption” to direct messages sent from Messenger and Instagram. Continue reading...
Group responds to CEO’s memo calling for ‘in-person collaboration’ at least three days a weekApple employees have hit back at the tech company’s return-to-office orders, and launched a petition saying the firm risked stifling diversity and staff wellbeing by restricting their ability to work remotely.The petition is in response to an all-employee memo from the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, who last week said workers would have to come into the office for at least three days a week from September, including Tuesdays, Thursdays and a third day to be determined by individual teams. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#62RKS)
Supremely comfortable, feature-packed Bluetooth cans sound brilliant with 60-hour battery lifeThe fourth-generation of the Momentum Bluetooth headphones from the renowned German audio manufacturer Sennheiser are a wholesale redesign, ditching their previous retro styling for something simpler and much more comfortable. All this with 60-hours of battery life.Undeniably pricey at £299 ($349.99/A$549.99), the Momentum 4 Wireless are still £50 cheaper than their predecessors and undercut key competitors from Sony, Bose and Apple. Continue reading...
CEO Shalev Hulio is stepping down as part of NSO reorganisation that will see it focus on sales in Nato member countriesIsrael’s NSO Group, which makes the globally controversial Pegasus spyware said on Sunday its CEO Shalev Hulio would step down as part of a reorganisation.The indebted, privately owned company also said it would focus sales on countries belonging to the Nato alliance. Continue reading...
Scammers are using manipulated video and audio to dupe employees into handing over money. But protection is possibleIs that really Tom Cruise about to wrestle an alligator? Keanu Reeves dancing like nobody is watching? Or Robert Pattinson getting shade from his cat? No – it’s a deepfake.Deepfake technology is advanced artificial intelligence that replaces actual video and audio with video and audio that was artificially created from other sources. While it may look like harmless fun on TikTok, it’s also becoming a huge security risk for businesses of all sizes. Continue reading...
Even the latest iPhone scare won’t persuade us to choose safety over convenienceApple caused a stir a few weeks ago when it announced that the forthcoming update of its mobile and laptop operating systems would contain an optional high-security mode that would provide users with an unprecedented level of protection against powerful “spyware” software that surreptitiously obtains control of their devices.It’s called Lockdown Mode and, according to Apple, “offers an extreme, optional level of security for the very few users who, because of who they are or what they do, may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from NSO Group and other private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware”. Continue reading...
Donald Trump welcomed the conspiracy at the White House. Its followers stormed Congress. Big Tech still seems not to care. Mike Rothschild’s book should sound the alarm for us allWhat is it that has hypnotized so many addled souls who devote themselves to decoding the Delphic clues of the QAnon conspiracy?What they think they’re getting is “secret knowledge”, from “Q” and a bunch of other military insiders working for Donald Trump, about “the storm … a ringside seat to the final match” in a “secret war between good and evil” that will end with the slaughter of all “enemies of freedom”. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian