Technology | The Guardian

Representation of characters from ‘uncivilised’ worlds and a nostalgia for colonial cultures have been problematic from the startWhen Black Lives Matter protests were raging following the death of George Floyd, the publishers of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, pledged to take concrete steps to make their games more diverse. Wizards of the Coast promised to “share what we’ve been doing, and what we plan to do in the future to address legacy D&D content that does not reflect who we are today”. In addition, it also pulled several racist cards from the card game Magic: The Gathering, such as Invoke Prejudice, Jihad and Pradesh Gypsies.Perceptions of racism in fantasy go back to the origins of the genre. Is it a coincidence that D&D’s dishonourable, dark-skinned elves come from a matriarchal society, or that its savage orcs bear uncanny resemblance to a traditionally white, western conceptualisation of barbaric peoples from the “uncivilised” world? Although fantasy affords us every freedom to imagine new worlds and cultures, for the last 200-odd years, humans have mostly managed derivative facsimiles of our own. This includes reproducing the scourge of systemic racism. Continue reading...

Miming used to be the epitome of pop fakery. But in the age of TikTok, it has become a creative and lucrative artform in its own right

PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 (forthcoming), Xbox Series X/S (forthcoming); Ubisoft

Officials are warning about foreign interference – but unlike in 2016, the greater threat comes from the White HouseIt seemed like the nightmare of 2016 all over again. Continue reading...

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC; One More Level/All in! Games/505 Games

An online competition has set up two bots to see if they can simulate a romantic rendezvous. But almost two weeks later things are not quite going to planName: Kuki and Blenderbot.Age: Hard to say exactly, mid-20s or thereabouts. Continue reading...

Secure messaging app pivotal to organisation of protests and spreading of news about repressionsIn a small Minsk apartment one evening last week, a group of people gathered to discuss plans for a Halloween party with a twist. There would be costumes, drinks and games, but the main event was a ceremonial funeral. The plan: to bury Alexander Lukashenko’s dictatorship.“Maybe we should bury a pumpkin with a moustache,” suggested one young woman. Continue reading...

Even before the Covid pandemic, loneliness had been deemed an official epidemic in several countries – and some companies have offered tech-based solutionsThis was the year we all began social distancing. But the ensuing isolation was already the norm for a rapidly growing population – and a major opportunity for many businesses. And as isolation has engulfed the globe like the virus itself, the business of loneliness is booming.Even before the pandemic, loneliness had been deemed an official epidemic in several countries. Rates of loneliness in the US have doubled over the past 50 years. In 2018, some 200,000 of the UK’s elderly hadn’t spoken to a friend or relative in a month, according to a government report, and 75% of the country’s general practitioners report seeing between one and five lonely patients each day. Continue reading...

New York University research into who sees the messages is laudable but its collection of personal data isn’tIt looked like another classic Facebook scandal: a report in the Wall Street Journal with the headline “Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting”. The story was that Facebook was “demanding that a New York University research project cease collecting data about its political-ad-targeting practices, setting up a fight with academics seeking to study the platform without the company’s permission. The dispute involves the NYU Ad Observatory, a project launched last month by the university’s engineering school that has recruited more than 6,500 volunteers to use a specially designed browser extension to collect data about the political ads Facebook shows them.”Cue outrage, including, initially, from this columnist. Typical tech company bullying, etc, etc. The NYU project seemed like a thoroughly good idea. After the controversies about its role in the 2016 election, Facebook created an archive of political ads that ran on its platform, showing who sponsored an ad, when it ran and the location of people who saw it, but excluding information about the targeting that determines who sees the ads. The NYU researchers sought to provide journalists and others with a tool for searching political ads by state and contest to see what messages are targeted at specific audiences and how those ads are funded. Continue reading...

Shops, cafes and pubs now can keep logs of their visitors who use the QR code check-in on their phonesBusinesses across Australia are being encouraged or required to keep logs of who has been in their establishment in case of a Covid-19 outbreak.Many choose to use paper and pen to keep records, but increasingly QR code posters are up so people can check in via their phones. Continue reading...

Like an idiot, I ordered them to replace my almost identical old pair that I was now convinced were trashI have been known to be wildly inconsistent with my reactions to expensive items. I will happily overpay for a pair of jeans, and later that same day bemoan the state of the world when an ice-cream costs a fiver, despite both items having a similar manufacturing cost.My biggest blind spot is headphones. I have become convinced that I need a pair for different situations. So I have a pair for the gym (barely used, obviously), a pair for everything else, and then a pair of wireless earphones for situations in which I don’t feel like wearing headphones (or something; I can’t remember how I justified it to my family). Continue reading...

Moderators had to manually intervene to limit distribution of Hunter Biden reportFacebook moderators had to manually intervene to suppress a controversial New York Post story about Hunter Biden, according to leaked moderation guidelines seen by the Guardian.The document, which lays out in detail Facebook’s policies for dealing with misinformation on Facebook and Instagram, sheds new light on the process that led to the company’s decision to reduce the distribution of the story. Continue reading...

Autonomous machines capable of deadly force are increasingly prevalent in modern warfare, despite numerous ethical concerns. Is there anything we can do to halt the advance of the killer robots? By Frank Pasquale Continue reading...

Judge declines to dismiss case against Huawei CFO but says assertion that US misrepresented evidence for extradition has ‘air of reality’A judge has blocked an attempt by Canada’s attorney general to dismiss parts of the extradition case against Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, according to a ruling released on Thursday.However, the judge sided with the attorney general in agreeing that Meng’s arguments were not strong enough to warrant an immediate dismissal of the case to extradite to the US for trial on fraud charges. Continue reading...

Google, Facebook and Amazon rally in third-quarter earnings reportsBig tech rallied on Thursday in earnings reports, largely shaking off the impacts of recent regulatory hearings and the coronavirus pandemic.Major tech firms added a combined $163bn to their market capitalizations ahead of the release of their earning reports on Thursday, more than the entire value of McDonald’s. Continue reading...

Company also used Argentine flag instead of Swedish one to represent countryAmazon’s launch of a Swedish retail site, its first in the Nordics, has caused embarrassment at the e-commerce company after a series of errors led to confusing, nonsensical and occasionally vulgar product listings scattered across the catalogue.To start with, Amazon chose the wrong flag: the Argentine flag appeared where the Swedish flag should have been placed on the country picker. It is unclear how the error happened: aside from copious use of blue, the two flags are not similar. Continue reading...

The apps feed a false promise of stability to immigrants and people of color. Instead, drivers receive low pay and no benefitsUber and Lyft want you to know they aren’t racist. It’s why Uber put up billboards all over the west coast saying: “If you tolerate racism, delete Uber.” It’s why Lyft is running ads featuring Maya Angelou’s “Lift up your eyes” poem over clips of Black passengers enjoying their service. It’s all to say – “We get it. We’re woke. We think Black Lives Matter just like you do. We’re with you in the struggle.”OK, Uber and Lyft. You want a seat at the anti-racism table? Let’s talk about race. Continue reading...

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Fresh, iPhone 4-like redesign is slimmer with long battery life, good camera and smash-resistant screenThe iPhone 12 combines the designs of the iPhone X and the legendary iPhone 4 and comes out looking and feeling fresh, with 5G, a better screen and improved cameras.The new iPhone costs from £799 and sits between the slightly smaller £699 iPhone 12 Mini and the £999 iPhone 12 Pro and £1,099 12 Pro Max. Continue reading...

Republican and Democrat lawmakers grill the CEOs of tech giants Twitter, Facebook and Google in a hearing about a federal law protecting internet companies from legal liability for content generated by its users. While Republicans focused on disinformation and the 'censoring' of Donald Trump, Democrats accused their rivals of politicising the hearing, while also questioning the mechanics of the platforms that promoted content they deemed divisiveRepublicans use congressional hearing to berate tech CEOs and claim Trump is 'censored'

In rare appearance days before election, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai defend law as critical to free speech6.29pm GMTThe hearing on Wednesday wrapped up a little before 11am, with very little concrete questioning around section 230 having transpired over the previous four hours.

Interview with conspiracy theorist leaves streaming service in awkward positionJoe Rogan, Spotify’s biggest podcast star, has left the platform in an awkward position after conducting a lengthy interview with Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist banned by Swedish streaming company for producing “hate content”.Rogan, the libertarian host of the long-running and wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, uploaded a three-hour discussion on Tuesday featuring Jones, the founder of the conspiracy site Infowars. Continue reading...

We ask Australian comedians to pan for gold in the murky slurry of the world wide web. Here are the bits Alice Fraser has picked up along the wayWhen I was told to write one of these 10 funniest things on the internet columns my first thought was, “Oh no, the internet isn’t for remembering things.” My second thought was, “Oh no, I don’t know what’s funny.” And my third thought was, “They’re really letting anyone do one of these.” Does it count if it’s on the internet but was originally on something else? Because that’s a lot of things. So it’s always good to start with an existential lack of confidence in the fundamental structures of the game.Related: Michelle Brasier: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet) Continue reading...

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

Buyer finds first edition pack is fake as value of the collectibles rockets amid pandemic

Site will show shoppers sustainable products but campaigners say it is ‘tip of iceberg’Amazon has launched a dedicated “eco-friendly” shopping platform to help guide consumers in the UK and other European countries to household products with sustainable credentials.From plastic-free solid shampoo bars to organic children’s clothing, more than 40,000 items on the new platform will carry certificates from schemes such as Fairtrade International and the Carbon Trust to help consumers pick products on their environmental merits. Continue reading...

Australian Cyber Security Centre says it is assisting Isentia, which has ‘most government departments and large corporations’ as clientsA media-monitoring and analytics firm used by the federal government has been hit by a cyberattack, prompting the involvement of the nation’s leading cybersecurity agency.Isentia, which boasts it has “most government departments and large corporations” as clients in Australia, told the Australian Stock Exchange on Tuesday it is “urgently investigating a cybersecurity incident” that was “disrupting services” involving its media portal – a service customers use to see media reporting on them, or issues of interest to them, and find journalists. Continue reading...

Tech giants are not playing according to economic rules set by the market, but by rules they largely set themselves. That won’t washWhen the US Department of Justice filed a complaint against Google last week it triggered the most significant antitrust case since the federal authorities sued Microsoft in the 1990s. Today’s trustbusters argue that Google’s search and advertising dominance goes well beyond consumer preference and into consumer abuse by forcing people to use its services and bending them to its data collection practices.This is a new era for big tech, one inaugurated by the US Congress report earlier this month that looked at Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The 16-month investigation said it had found in Silicon Valley “the kinds of monopolies [last seen] in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons”. This language deliberately recalls two American presidents, and cousins, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D Roosevelt, who are remembered, perhaps too generously, for standing up to big business and saving America from plutocracy. At the heart of Congress’s analysis is that tech giants are not playing according to economic rules set by the market, but by rules they largely set themselves. This allows corporations to appropriate excess profits through privileged access to user data. Continue reading...

Ex-moderators tell the Guardian Facebook underpays and mistreats contractors responsible for policing hate speechAlison Trebacz, a former Facebook content moderator based in Arizona, remembers the day of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, which killed 58 people and injured more than 800 others, almost as if she were there.She came into work that morning expecting to see graphic content, but nothing could have prepared her for the queues full of videos of dead and dying victims waiting for her when she arrived. Continue reading...

New tablet looks stunning, is fast with long battery life, great 10.9in screen, speakers and video call cameraThe latest tablet on the block is the totally revamped iPad Air with a modern design and plenty of power.The fourth-generation iPad Air costs £579 and fits in between the £329 iPad and the £769 11in iPad Pro. Continue reading...

This October marks 10 years since the launch of Instagram. Tech journalist Sarah Frier looks at how it went from a tiny startup to a multibillion-dollar business, and the impact the social media company has had on our livesSarah Frier is a tech reporter based in San Francisco who has watched the meteoric rise of Instagram, from its humble beginnings as a startup with a handful of employees to becoming a $100bn company. She talks to Rachel Humphreys about how the photo-sharing platform has become the most influential app of the past decade.Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s co-founder, was 25 when he started his company with his friend, software engineer Mike Krieger. Systrom realised there was a gap in the market for an app that helped people quickly share pictures from phones, and with Instagram the app would also offer filters that people could use to make their photos – and by extension, their lives – look more appealing. In 2012, with just 13 employees, the company was bought by Facebook for $1bn. With the introduction of Instagram Stories, its growth accelerated, but the relationship between the two companies was complicated and Systrom and Krieger eventually left Instagram in 2018. Mark Zuckerberg now controls two of the most important social media networks in our lives. Continue reading...

My former colleague Ervine Glenny, who has died aged 97, was a materials engineer who, through his research and subsequent management of engineers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), helped to pioneer the advent of jet engines and the use of carbon fibre composites to lighten aircraft and other structures.He was born in Belfast, the son of Elizabeth (nee Ervine), a housewife, and Robert Glenny, a police constable. He was named Robert, but was always known by his middle name, Ervine. He was educated at Methodist college, Belfast, and won a bursary to study chemical engineering at Queen’s University in the city, where he met his wife to be, Joan Reid, who was taking the same course. Continue reading...

My father, Bill Fearns, who has died aged 99, was a marine engineer whose long career encompassed designing vessels that were used in the second world war, including the D-day landings.Born in Dundee into a family of eight, to James Fearns, a foundry labourer, and his wife, Jessie (nee Farquharson), a jute spinner, Bill was raised in a tenement. He attended Stobswell school, but left aged 14 to train as a draughtsman in the Robb-Caledon shipyard, gaining qualifications at Dundee Technical Institute at night. Continue reading...

Facebook amends code after deletion of black users’ photos sparks outrageAs campaigning victories go, forcing Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire to admit a discriminatory flaw in its policy is no small feat.But following a campaign launched in this paper, the Observer can exclusively reveal that Instagram and its parent company Facebook will be updating its policy on nudity in order to help end discrimination of plus-size black women on its platforms and ensure all body types are treated fairly. Continue reading...

Social media smarts and a sense of humour are highly profitable for a new breed of ‘skinfluencer’He grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona before moving to New York to work on a department store makeup counter. Now at just 24, despite having no formal dermatology qualifications, Hyram Yarbro is a skincare guru to millions worldwide.

Researchers have every right to investigate how the company’s data is used by advertisersFacebook wants you to know that it’s being transparent about political ads, requiring advertisers to verify their identity and to show who paid for an ad.But it doesn’t want to be too transparent. It has sent cease and desist letters to two New York University researchers, Laura Edelson and Damon McCoy, part of the Online Political Transparency Project, who are investigating how people are targeted by ads. They helped develop a browser plug-in called Ad Observer, which allows people voluntarily to share data about political ads on Facebook. Edelson and McCoy are particularly interested in two aspects of political ads that Facebook won’t publicly discuss – how particular people are targeted and how campaigns craft messages based on criteria such as race or age. Continue reading...

Transformative leader who took over from father made Samsung a global name with turnover worth a fifth of South Korea’s GDPThe Samsung Electronics chairman, Lee Kun-hee, who made the South Korean company a global name, has died at the age of 78.Under Lee’s leadership Samsung rose to become the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, with overall turnover equivalent to a fifth of South Korea’s GDP. Continue reading...

For a century, humans high up in fire towers have sounded the alarm. But breakthroughs in technology may offer something morePerched in his fire tower high above the pine trees, Nick Dutton leans back and nods to the cascading hills and mountains behind him.“I love being out here, just away from stuff,” he says. “I mean, you can’t really complain.” Continue reading...

Former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill says UK used offensive cyber-capability to exploit Moscow’s ‘vulnerabilities’Britain has carried a series of covert attacks on Russia’s leaders and their allies, the former cabinet secretary has disclosed.Mark Sedwill said the UK had sought to exploit Moscow’s “vulnerabilities”, including through the deployment of its recently declared offensive cyber-capability. Continue reading...

The documentarian and daughter of the House speaker discusses her new film that looks at an angry and divided AmericaAmerica is, as the refrain goes, divided. This has been demonstrated empirically, with evidence on America’s increasing political polarization, and anecdotally, if you’ve lived in America for the past decade, and especially the last four years. Easily legible examples of a country fraying at the seams abound; American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself, a new documentary from Showtime, serializes some of the most prominent ones of the last year, with a retrospective of such indelible yet quickly faded images as crematory trucks in the height of pandemic New York, the Trump motorcycle rally in pandemic summer South Dakota, and a fraught border checkpoint in El Paso, Texas.Related: 'There's a whole war going on': the film tracing a decade of cyber-attacks Continue reading...

Exclusive: Contract staff deemed essential workers as firm’s own employees work from home

By exchanging her privacy for eyewatering wealth, Kardashian West defines our time like no one else. Now, she has dialled back the nudity, presented a family-oriented image – and even appealed to Donald Trump’s compassionate sideIn the early hours of 3 October 2016, shortly before her 36th birthday, Kim Kardashian West found herself with a gun to her head, tied up in a rented apartment in Paris, begging for her life.Over the previous few days, Kardashian West had posted 15 images on Instagram documenting her trip to Paris fashion week, including a selfie showing off a $4m diamond ring on her finger. The thieves took off with more than $9m worth of her jewellery. Continue reading...

Bigger screen, longer battery life and great camera make the 4a 5G the best Pixel this yearThe new Pixel 4a 5G is Google’s cheaper but larger 5G phone, and might just be the best.It is available in black and costs £499, fitting in between the £599 Pixel 5 and the £349 Pixel 4a. Continue reading...

The justice department brought antitrust charges against the company, but experts say that’s just a startFor decades, companies like Google have enjoyed exponential growth and an almost unobstructed rise to power. But the tide appears to be turning, as US lawmakers crack down on alleged monopolistic practices and public sentiment sours on the former wunderkinder of Silicon Valley.Antitrust charges brought against Google on Tuesday by the US justice department mark the latest – and most significant – legal challenge yet for big tech. Continue reading...

Early reviews of new Apple phones suggest lots of little upgrades but 5G not yet a killer featureThe first reviews of Apple’s new 5G-enabled smartphones, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, are in from publications with early access to two of the four new models.The £999 iPhone 12 Pro has an extra telephoto camera and Lidar-based depth sensor not present on the cheaper £799 iPhone 12, which just has a regular and an ultrawide camera on the back. Neither the smaller and cheaper iPhone 12 Mini nor the largest and most expensive iPhone 12 Pro Max are yet available. Continue reading...

The company won’t phone when promised or provide an explanationI have been trying to switch to Virgin broadband because it is by far the fastest in my area. The installation was booked for mid-August and, as at that point a full connection was not possible, we were connected to our neighbour’s cable with their consent.Since then, Virgin Media claims it is unable to complete my installation or deal with problems with the service. Apparently its system shows the installation as complete and our account as active. In addition, the company has repeatedly failed to phone when promised, turn up in the agreed time slot, arrive at the right address or provide any explanation for anything. I am unsure what to do next, other than to send another complaint. Continue reading...

US indictment of operatives, accused of launching several attacks, gives a detailed account of how they went about their businessThe Sandworm team of Russian military intelligence, alleged to have unleashed computer chaos against the Kremlin’s enemies around the world, is said to operate out of a blue-tinted glass skyscraper known simply as “the tower”.From that address, 22 Kirova Street in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, the Sandworm hackers, also known more prosaically as the unit 74455 and “the main centre for special technologies”, launched attacks on the Ukrainian power system, Emmanuel Macron’s presidential bid in France in 2017, the South Korean Olympics in 2018 and the UK investigation into the 2018 Russian nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Continue reading...

Firm will install public chargers in poorer boroughs to persuade its drivers to switch to electric carsUber has pledged to invest more than £5m in public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in some of the poorest boroughs in London, to help persuade its reluctant drivers to switch to electric cars.The global ride-hailing firm will announce the investment, which it admits is only a fraction of the money needed, as it seeks to highlight the imbalance across the capital in the installation of charge points. Continue reading...

Celeste Barber’s latest parody was flagged by the platform, but its algorithm’s prejudices aren’t a new problemLast week brought an issue to the attention of millions of Instagram users – one that we in marginalised communities have been aware of for years: the Instagram algorithm favours thin, white, cisgendered people and effectively censors the rest of us.On Friday, Australian comedic juggernaut Celeste Barber posted the latest in her #CelesteChallengeAccepted series of parody images to her audience of 7.3 million: a side-by-side photo of her imitating a post from former Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel, clutching her bare breast and exposing side boob. Continue reading...