Technology | The Guardian

The downfall of the founder of Theranos is a story of hubris and lies – and a parable for a financial system that is badly brokenThe story of how Elizabeth Holmes came to defraud some of the richest and most powerful investors in the US, only to end up this week facing decades in prison, is so epic and outlandish that it is no wonder it has already flowered into a prize-winning book and a popular podcast, and is reportedly on its way to becoming a Hollywood film, with Ms Holmes to be played by Jennifer Lawrence, no less. But it is more than superb entertainment; it is a parable about how our financial system is badly broken.At only 19, Ms Holmes decided to reinvent a fundamental part of healthcare: blood testing. No more painful pinpricks, nor anxious waits for results. She dropped out of Stanford to start Theranos in 2003, and in short order pulled in some of the biggest investors in Silicon Valley, garnered adoring magazine profiles and turned her startup into a firm employing 800 staff and valued at £6.6bn. Continue reading...

Nathan Dane spent six years honing his version of the BBC’s defunct text-based information serviceIf you find news websites too overwhelming, too fast and too full of distractions then this might be the solution: a recreation of the BBC’s Ceefax service featuring up-to-date headlines, an accurate weather map and the latest stock market prices.Nathan Dane, 20, has spent the last six years building a simulation of the BBC’s defunct text-based information service. It takes in data from the BBC’s existing website and repurposes it in the distinctively blocky font that was ubiquitous on television sets during the 1980s and 1990s. Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: the Theranos founder’s conviction shows healthy scepticism about promises to radically rewrite our future is no bad thing

Spokesperson says account ‘suspended for violating rules on platform manipulation and spam’Twitter has permanently banned the popular news aggregation service Politics For All, in a sign of how the social media platform has substantial power to deprive news outlets of their audience without warning.A spokesperson said the account was “suspended for violating the Twitter Rules on platform manipulation and spam” and would not be allowed to return. Continue reading...

The diversified technology giant generated revenues of $1bn a day in its last financial yearThe striking part about Apple’s $3tn valuation is that it does not look obviously wrong. Or, rather, it does not appear out of line with the racy values the US stock market places on technology companies. There is no need, for example, to engage in heroic horizon-gazing projections, as with $1.2tn Tesla, to support the enormous number. One can roughly get to $3tn at Apple via conventional yardsticks such as revenues, profits and cash generation.The company generated revenues of $366bn in its last financial year that ended in September – $1bn a day – and made profits of $94.7bn. So the shares are being rated at slightly more than 30 times last year’s earnings. That’s punchy, but not wildly so given the rate of revenue growth (one third last year) and the fact that all the profits find their way to investors these days, largely through share buy-backs. Continue reading...

The mobile phone game Josh Wardle launched in October now has 300,000 people playing it daily – but, he says, he is not cashing inName: Wordle.Age: Nearly three months old. Continue reading...

Founder of blood-testing company Theranos spun ‘alluring narrative that everyone wanted to believe’Just six years ago Forbes magazine declared her the “the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire” and the “next Steve Jobs”. Now, Elizabeth Holmes, 37, founder of the collapsed blood testing company Theranos, is facing decades in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud her investors out of billions.Holmes, a university dropout with no medical training, had fooled regulators and some of the world’s richest people, including Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger and Larry Ellison, into believing she had figured out a way to test for a range of health conditions with just a pinprick of blood. Continue reading...

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, has been found guilty on four of 11 charges of fraud, concluding a high-profile trial that captivated Silicon Valley and chronicled the missteps of the now-defunct blood testing startup. The Guardian looks back at how Holmes' rhetoric changed over time as the company ultimately fell short of its ambitious pledge

The jury delivered the verdict after announcing they were deadlocked on three of the 11 charges faced by HolmesElizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, has been found guilty on four of 11 charges of fraud, concluding a high-profile trial that captivated Silicon Valley and chronicled the missteps of the now-defunct blood testing startup.The jury found Holmes guilty of several charges – including conspiracy to defraud investors – following a dramatic day in which jurors said they remained deadlocked on three of the criminal counts she faced. Continue reading...

A colonial law that criminalises ‘unnatural’ sexual acts leaves LGBTQ+ people prey to social media extortion and blackmailOne day after work last month, Tom Otieno* went to a shopping centre in Nairobi to pick up groceries before heading home. He got a call from someone he had been chatting to for a week on Grindr, a social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people. The man had already tried ringing several times during the day while Otieno was with colleagues and was keen to meet.Otieno, 29, mentioned where he was but said that he did not want to see the man. Then, as he was heading to his car, he got another call. As he answered it, someone approached him and said they were a police officer. Seconds later, two other officers joined him and surrounded Otieno. Continue reading...

Move comes after lawsuit in which three Black women alleged discrimination tied to names and photosAirbnb rental hosts in the state of Oregon will no longer be able to see guests’ names before approving their bookings, according to a new plan announced by the company.The policy update is specific to Oregon, for now, and was born out of a lawsuit in which three Black women from the Portland, Oregon, area alleged the rental site’s use of names and photographs allowed for racial discrimination, violating the state’s public accommodation laws. Continue reading...

Analysis: Experts say guilty verdict will probably land Theranos founder in prison and resonate throughout industry

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been convicted on four counts of fraud and conspiracy, ending a lengthy trial that has captivated Silicon Valley.The jury found her not guilty of four other felony charges. On the three remaining charges, the jury was deadlocked. Holmes could now face up to 20 years in prison for each count.

Jurors had been deliberating for seven days after the 15-week trial in which the Theranos founder faced up to 20 years in prisonThe jury weighing fraud charges against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has told the court it is unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three of the 11 criminal counts she faces.Jurors in the high-profile Silicon Valley trial had been deliberating for seven days after a trial that chronicled the missteps of the now-defunct blood testing startup. Over the course of 15 weeks, federal prosecutors called 29 witnesses, outlining missteps and alleged fraud Holmes committed during her 15-year reign as CEO. Continue reading...

The company will discontinue service on all devices not running on Android softwareTuesday marks the end of an era: BlackBerry will discontinue service on its classic smartphones. So for those still holding on to their QWERTY keyboards, be warned.In a 22 December statement, the company reminded users of the development, which will affect services for all of its devices not running on Android software, including the BlackBerry 10, 7.1 OS and earlier. Continue reading...

Georgia Republican’s Covid misinformation violation prompts move, after being issued a ‘fourth strike’ in AugustThe personal Twitter account of the Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been permanently suspended, for violating policies on Covid misinformation.The action against Greene on Sunday came under the “strike” system Twitter launched last March, which uses artificial intelligence to identify posts about the coronavirus misleading enough to cause harm. Continue reading...

Galliano di Mugello’s poor signal has endeared it to Italians, but the mayor hopes to use recent publicity to close the digital divideAt the cafe that doubles-up as a newsagent in Galliano di Mugello, a medieval hamlet in Tuscany, there are no pings from mobile phones, people aimlessly browsing the internet or uploading pictures of their cappuccino to Instagram. Instead, customers read the newspaper – their main source of information on the outside world – or talk to each other.Surrounded by Tuscany’s postcard perfect cypress trees and rolling hills, Galliano di Mugello, would be a haven for those wanting a digital detox. But the absence of mobile phone coverage is a much less endearing quirk for the 1,300 or so inhabitants, who are starting to rise up against not being able to make a call, send a text or search for something on Google on their handsets. Continue reading...

The IRS will look into the digital payment service accounts of small businesses, freelancers and independent contractorsA new tax rule will impact millions of small businesses in 2022. You can thank one small change buried in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.Let’s suppose you’re a small business owner or freelancer, and you get paid from a digital payment service like PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App or any third-party settlement provider that’s accepting credit cards on your behalf and putting money into your bank account. If those payments were for goods and services that you sold to customers, it was previously up to you to make sure you were reporting that income on your tax return. But now, beginning in 2022, if you receive more than $600 in total during the course of the year – regardless of how many customers are paying – your payment service is required to report that amount to the IRS. Continue reading...

We look at who will be making headlines this year, in both a positive and negative lightToby Helm Continue reading...

Democracies have finally begun to confront the internet giants and their unrivalled and untrammelled powerThe thing about history is that it sometimes repeats itself. As far as the tech industry is concerned, we saw that in the year just ended and it looks as though we’re about to see it again in the year that’s just begun.First things first, though: 2021 was the year in which it finally became clear that the free ride that Google and co have enjoyed for two decades was coming to an end – that tech was going to become a regulated industry. Exactly how that was going to pan out was unclear, but the direction of travel was unmistakable. Continue reading...

Head inside the bizarre mansion full of TikTok stars, watch people forced to dine with their exes – and meet a deaf girl with superpowers Continue reading...

Effects of the US-China trade war felt by the telecom were ‘in line with our forecasts, says chairman Guo PingChinese telecom giant Huawei said on Friday its annual revenue had fallen by nearly a third from the previous year, as it continued to be weighed down by US sanctions that have hit its smartphone sales.Huawei has been caught in the crossfire of a US-China trade and technology rivalry after the administration of former president Donald Trump moved to cripple the company over concerns it could pose a cybersecurity and espionage threat. Continue reading...

Gal-dem shines a spotlight on the shocking truths behind the thriving black community of Greenwood. Plus: Strippers in the AtticReclaimed & Rewritten

Use of the devices has taken off in recent years, with apparent benefits including less distress to animalsAs new year approaches, crowds around the world may be expecting whizzes and bangs to light up the sky. But the appeal of fireworks could fizzle out with the growing use of drones for light shows.One notable example was the opening ceremony of this year’s Tokyo Olympics, while the Over the Top NYE event at Reunion Tower in Dallas is among those planning to combine fireworks and drones to welcome 2022. Continue reading...

Workers say Amazon’s ‘excessively rapid work pace’, surveillance and disciplinary systems have created a dangerous environmentIn May Chloe Roberson of Chattanooga, Tennessee, injured her knee while working her shift at Amazon and she has been out of work since, while fighting with the company for workers’ compensation and paid medical leave.Roberson, 21, chose to go to the emergency room rather than Amazon’s on-site medical clinic, Amcare, and was referred to a sports medicine doctor who diagnosed her with a dislocated patella (kneecap). Her initial recovery was 10 weeks of physical therapy followed by a steroid shot, but she was later scheduled for surgery on 28 October to repair her knee. Continue reading...

From repeated accusations of fostering misinformation to multiple whistleblowers, the company weathered some battles in 2021It’s a now-perennial headline: Facebook has had a very bad year.Years of mounting pressure from Congress and the public culminated in repeated PR crises, blockbuster whistleblower revelations and pending regulation over the past 12 months. Continue reading...

New devices contain recycled materials, have longer software support and better access to repairsTwo years ago, our consumer electronics reviews added a new criteria to be judged – how sustainable the latest device, laptop or tablet is. So have the tech giants made any progress? In some way, yes. But there is a long way to go.More mainstream products now contain recycled material as major tech firms follow through with their sustainability pledges. For example, Apple’s full iPad line and the majority of its computers are now made of recycled aluminium, as are Google’s latest Pixel 6 smartphones. Most of Amazon’s own-brand devices contain recycled plastic, including the Fire HD 10 tablets and Echo devices, as do Microsoft’s Ocean Plastic Mouse and Logitech’s MX Keys Mini keyboard. Continue reading...

The $17m purchase for the Facebook founder includes the Ka Loko reservoir, considered high-risk and in need of repairsMark Zuckerberg has added 110 acres to his controversial 1,500-acre estate in Kauai, Hawaii, dropping $17m for the purchase.The 110 acres of land that the Facebook founder and his wife recently bought includes the Ka Loko reservoir, a century-old reservoir whose dam broke in 2006 and released 400m gallons of water that killed seven people on Kauai’s north shore. Continue reading...

Opposition leader Donald Tusk calls for inquiry after watchdog says government’s rivals were targeted by Pegasus spywarePolish opposition leader Donald Tusk said on Tuesday reports that the government spied on its opponents represented the country’s biggest “crisis for democracy” since the end of communism.A cybersecurity watchdog last week said the Pegasus spyware had been used to target prominent opposition figures, with Polish media dubbing the scandal a “Polish Watergate”. Continue reading...

A new book suggests that, for single people, technology has made dating a strange, isolated experienceOne feature of online dating that makes it a recurring pub-discussion topic among my friends is the propensity for the people involved to do strange things. A whole new spectrum of dating behaviour has evolved on “the apps”. Habits that, while now common, are still odd things to do.Someone might seem very interested but then “ghost” or “orbit” (which means they stop replying to messages but still engage with your social media content, liking your posts and photos); or tell obvious but seemingly unnecessary lies; another person might read “the riot act” on a first date, sternly laying down their terms for how the relationship should progress; and there are endless stories about dates reacting bizarrely, even menacingly, if rejected. Continue reading...

Up for discussion in this week’s newsletter: let’s scroll back and see how right – or wrong – we were about the future of tech

As cryptocurrencies become mainstream and frictionless, extremists are finding new ways to fundraise

Territory’s financial sector risks reputational damage and diplomatic sanctions if complex regulations of crypto hub failOn the southern Mediterranean coast, nestled in the shadow of the Rock’s sheer limestone cliffs and its tangle of wild olive trees, the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) is quietly preparing for a corporate takeover that could have global consequences for the former naval garrison.Less than half a mile away, next to the blue waters of Gibraltar’s mid-harbour marina, the peninsula’s regulators are reviewing a proposal that would prompt blockchain firm Valereum to buy the exchange in the new year – meaning the British overseas territory could soon host the world’s first integrated bourse, where conventional bonds can be traded alongside major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and dogecoin. Continue reading...

The Facebook CEO won’t talk to the Guardian. So we built a Zuckerbot and interviewed it insteadWhat does Mark Zuckerberg care about?The 37-year-old tech executive has a wife, two kids, $110bn , and near absolute control over a group of companies – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp – that shape the information, entertainment, and communication of 3 billion people. Continue reading...

After another disastrous year for the company, experts and activists see clear ways to tackle its problemsThis year the public saw an alarming side of Facebook, after a huge leak of internal documents revealed the extent of vaccine misinformation and extremism on the platform, a two-tier system of who gets to break the rules and the toxic effects of Instagram for teens.Digital rights activists around the world have warned about these issues for years, but with the company facing mounting pressure, next year could provide an unprecedented opportunity for action. Continue reading...

Holiday family gatherings in Meta’s virtual world would probably include robot avatars and a digitized appearance by Mariah CareyIf you witnessed Mark Zuckerberg’s unveiling of the “Metaverse” this year, you’ll be familiar with his utopian vision: a future in which we abandon our woefully outdated reality in favor of his virtual world. After all, what could be better than surrendering the very concept of observable truth to the man whose service has convinced your aunt that elites want to drink the blood of children?The Zuckerbergian digital universe isn’t quite ready yet, but with Christmas around the corner, we took an educated guess at what the holidays might look like under the incoming regime. Continue reading...

With telecoms barely working, a plunging currency and young people emigrating, it’s a bleak Christmas for weary LebaneseIn Lebanon’s year of loss and deprivation, simple pleasures have steadily drained away along with its fortunes. But amid a crisis renowned for breaking new ground, few Lebanese had thought their ability to stay in touch was at risk – until a pre-Christmas warning sent shudders through the country.The telecommunications minister, Johnny Corm, warned this week that a lack of funds and fuel could soon see Lebanon’s already struggling internet grind to a halt, making festive calls and messages even trickier than usual – and a financial and social disintegration like no other even more acute. Continue reading...

Our 20 favourite pieces of the yearAfter growing up in a Zimbabwe convulsed by the legacy of colonialism, when I got to Oxford I realised how many British people still failed to see how empire had shaped lives like mine – as well as their own Continue reading...

The company will send out a software update that will prevent its games from being played on center consoles while the vehicle is in motionUnder pressure from US auto safety regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while its vehicles are moving.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company will send out a software update over the internet so the function called “Passenger Play” will be locked and won’t work while vehicles are in motion. Continue reading...

A virtual present can be bought hassle-free as late as Christmas morning, and with a bit of creativity, it can feel just as special as a physical giftPostal delivery deadlines have well and truly passed, and the window of time for a last-minute gift run has just about shut. Add rising Covid-19 cases to the mix, and a hasty trip to the mall on 24 December feels very much like panic buying.While browsing for digital presents is something we “often don’t consider” because of “the tradition of having something physically wrapped up,” professor in consumer behaviour from Queensland University of Technology, Gary Mortimer, says the pool of virtual gifting options has dramatically deepened. Continue reading...

US chipmaker responds to backlash after telling its suppliers to avoid region at centre of human rights abuse allegationsThe US chipmaker Intel has apologised for telling its suppliers not to source products or labour from Xinjiang, a province that human rights groups and governments including the US allege uses forced labour, after facing a backlash across China.Intel, which derives more than a quarter of its $80bn (£60bn) in annual revenues from the Chinese market, apologised to the people of China and its local partners on Thursday for telling suppliers to avoid the region in accordance with restrictions imposed by “multiple governments”. Continue reading...

Prototype uses carousel of canisters to create flavour samples on hygienic film over flatscreen TVA Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavours, another step towards creating a multisensory viewing experience.The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavour sample then rolls on hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try. Continue reading...

Accidental deaths soar among young people amid a proliferation of fentanyl-filled pharmaceuticals sold on platforms such as Snapchat and InstagramFourteen-year-old Alondra Salinas had set out her new white sneakers and packed her backpack the night before the first day of in-person high school when police say she responded to an offer on Snapchat for blue pills, which turned out to be deadly fentanyl. Her mother couldn’t wake her the next morning.Seventeen-year-old Zachary Didier was waiting to hear back on his college applications when a fake Percocet killed him. Sammy Berman Chapman, a 16-year-old straight-A student, died in his bedroom after taking what he thought was a single Xanax. Continue reading...

A pleasant little daily brainteaser, Wordle is a simple, shareable word guessing game that is gaining popularity on Twitter

Chinese social media users call for boycott of US chip maker after it issues directive to suppliers over human rights concernsIntel, the US computer chip maker, is facing a backlash from China after telling its suppliers not to source products or labour from the region of Xinjiang.Intel said it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services” from Xinjiang in accordance with restrictions imposed by “multiple governments”. Continue reading...

‘Passenger play’ feature has been available since December 2020 – before that, games could only be played in ‘park’ modeThe US has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving.The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years 2017 through 2022. Continue reading...

Up for discussion in this week’s newsletter: Years after shuttering a similarly controversial scheme, the LAPD wants to use tech to profile potential felons

Xbox One, Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, PC; Strange Scaffold

Jeff T Green rebuked church over LGBTQ rights, saying the church is ‘actively doing harm in the world’An advertising-technology billionaire has resigned his membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and rebuked the faith over social issues and LGBTQ rights in an unusual public move.Jeff T Green has pledged to donate 90% of his estimated $5bn (£3.77bn) fortune, starting with a $600,000 donation to the LGBTQ-rights group Equality Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Continue reading...