Technology | The Guardian

The Gaia theorist, at 100 years old, is infectiously optimistic about the prospect of humanity being overtaken by superintelligent robotsIn an acerbic 1976 article on AI research, the computer scientist Drew McDermott was the first to contrast the phrases “artificial intelligence” and “natural stupidity”. Four decades later, researchers warn of the threat posed by computer “superintelligence”, but stupidity is still a far greater peril: both the age-old natural stupidity of humans and the newfangled artificial stupidity displayed by algorithms – such as chatbots supposed to be able to diagnose illness, or facial-recognition software that throws up false matches for ethnic minorities – in which we place far too much trust.An alternative reason to be cheerful about the coming machine takeover is offered here by the eminent scientist and inventor James Lovelock. A chemist by training, who invented instruments for Mars rovers and helped to discover the depletion of the ozone layer, Lovelock is most celebrated in pop culture for his “Gaia hypothesis”. First formulated in the 1960s, it proposes that Earth and its biosphere comprise a single, self-regulating system. Life alters its habitat (eg, as plants seeded Earth’s atmosphere with oxygen) as surely as the habitat alters life. The hippyish name “Gaia”, originally suggested to him in the pub by the novelist William Golding, probably worked against the idea (also called “geophysiology”), but modern disciplines such as Earth Systems Science have absorbed many of Lovelock’s central points. Continue reading...

Bitcoin was radical and utopian, a way to avoid both government and big business. What happened?Eight years ago, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, which together make up more than 97% of the global market for payment services, cut off funding to WikiLeaks (you could still donate to the Ku Klux Klan, the English Defence League or Americans for Truth about Homosexuality). The blockade, backed by Republican senators, was political: WikiLeaks had published Chelsea Manning’s material documenting US military drone strikes and civilian killings in Iraq; stopping inflowing cash silenced Julian Assange’s outfit, albeit temporarily.What could be done? Perhaps it was time for a cryptocurrency to stride from the proverbial phone booth, underpants over its tights, and save the day? After all, bitcoin’s philosophy was that it would cut out the middleman, whether state functionary or corporate lackey, and realise a radical future in which, for instance, Afghan women, prohibited from opening bank accounts, might work and get paid in bitcoin. Continue reading...

Study shows 20m jobs will be lost worldwide by 2030 with every robot costing 1.6 manufacturing jobsBritish workers are being shut out of decisions over the rising use of robots in the UK economy, according to a report.According to the commission on workers and technology, run by the Fabian Society and the Community trade union, almost six in 10 employees across Britain in a poll said their employers did not give them a say on the use of new technologies. Continue reading...

I wonder about the extent to which employers go in their desire to control those who have the misfortune to depend on them for their livelihood, writes Prof Anita J PrazmowskaStanding waiting for my English breakfast tea in the Last Word cafe in the forecourt of the British Library. A supervisor breezed in and interrupted service to scoop up mobiles from the counter staff. These were retrieved from bags and from a lower shelf. As she departed with her hands full, I asked what was the reason for this intriguing performance. She was called back and explained to me that this was because the contract of employment stipulated that staff should not have their mobiles on their bodies while serving. I pointed out that there is an obvious difference between an obligation not to have or to use mobiles while serving on the one hand, and their duty to hand over their mobiles to their supervisor. Since clearly I did not understand, the rules were patiently explained again to me. Staff had to sign a contract that stated they could not have their mobiles while working.After going over our respective different interpretation of the “rules”, I gave up. But the image is with me. The staff were adults. They were trusted to work with electrically powered equipment and furthermore with equipment that generated hot water and steam. But they could not be left to comply with clearly stated rules. Transgression against these rules, which have potential safety implications, presumably carried sanctions of which they were aware. So why this need to subordinate themselves to the supervisor’s whim? What else will an employer feel that she/he has the right to sequestrate in a bizarre ritual of preventive action? Continue reading...

For the first time in its long history, one of the world’s most famous producers of seductive sports cars is turning its hand to SUVsAston Martin DBX

Change due on 15 July halted because government failed to inform EU of plansThe UK’s age-verification system for online pornography will be delayed for around six months because the government failed to inform the EU of its proposals, the culture secretary has said.The already delayed policy, which will require all adult internet users wanting to watch legal pornography to prove they are over 18 by providing some form of identification, was due to come into force on 15 July. Continue reading...

Artists, activists and models join in condemning confusing guidelines leading to account suspensionsDozens of adult performers picketed outside of Instagram’s Silicon Valley headquarters over guidelines about photos containing nudity. The inconsistency of the rules, they say, has led to hundreds of thousands of account suspensions and is imperiling their livelihoods.Adult performers led the protest on Wednesday, but other users including artists, sex workers, queer activists, sex education platforms and models say they have been affected by the platform’s opaque removal system. The action was organized by the Adult Performer Actors Guild, the largest labor union for the adult film industry. Continue reading...

Incidents occurred over weekend during Download music festival at nearby parkDetectives have launched an investigation after three drones disrupted flights at an airport during a nearby music festival.Leicestershire police said a pilot of one of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had been interviewed by officers after it was reported to police at 9.30am on Saturday near the Download festival at Donington Park. Continue reading...

Data breach included names, addresses and phone numbers of parents who asked for adviceA charity that supports transgender children has apologised and referred itself to the information commissioner’s office following a data breach that led to the publication of parents’ personal emails online.Mermaids, a UK charity providing support and advice to transgender or non-gender-conforming children, said it immediately took action after being made aware of the data breach on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Officer Robert Davies is on paid leave after being charged with communicating with a minor to commit a felonyA California student used a “gender swap” filter on Snapchat to pose as an underage girl in a vigilante effort that led to a police officer’s arrest.After a friend told him she was sexually assaulted as a child, Ethan, whose last name has not been revealed, set out to lure potential pedophiles into speaking to him on the dating app Tinder. Continue reading...

Charity’s report into effects of technology on under-18s warns of threat to mental healthChildren aged five and under are at risk of becoming addicted to the internet in a trend that could damage their mental health, according to Barnardo’s.The charity said very young children – one as young as two – were learning to access websites, for example YouTube and those related to children’s television programmes, as a result of their parents giving them access to smartphones or tablet computers to distract or entertain them. Continue reading...

Having announced its next video game console at E3 2019, Microsoft is being tight-lipped on further details – but the clues are there if you’re lookingThere still isn’t much that’s clear about Project Scarlett, Microsoft’s follow-up to the Xbox One, which was revealed for the first time at the E3 conference in Los Angeles on 9 June. But we do have some answers.Related: Project Scarlett: new Xbox console details announced at E3 Continue reading...

Vice-chancellor says hack involved personal and payroll details going back 19 yearsThe Australian National University is in damage control after discovering a major data breach a fortnight ago in which a “significant” amount of staff and student information was accessed by a “sophisticated operator”.The university has confirmed an estimated 200,000 people have been affected by the hack, based on student numbers each year and staff turnover. Continue reading...

Eight proposals up for vote were defeated, including plans for an independent board chair and to reform the company’s share structureA specter is haunting Facebook’s shareholder meeting – the specter of a giant, inflatable angry emoji. The eight-foot frowny face that protesters took to Facebook’s annual meeting Thursday in Palo Alto, California, was just one of numerous manifestations of investor and activist anger at the social media company.Investors voted on eight independent shareholder proposals, all aimed at reforming a company that has seen its reputation shredded in recent years over concerns including data misuse, anti-competitive behavior, incitement of genocidal violence, and the hijacking of democratic elections. Continue reading...

Ed wants to buy a Windows laptop that will last as long as possible, and is willing to pay up to £2,000I want to buy a Windows laptop that is as future-proof as possible. I have been looking at ones with at least a Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 13-14in high-resolution screen. I am really struggling to identify the one I should get.I realise the specs are perhaps overkill for my mixture of office productivity programs and media use. However, I intend to keep this laptop for seven to 10 years, and I want it to cope with updates and new software in the future. My budget is about £1,500-£2,000. EdIt’s not easy to buy a future-proof laptop because the industry is moving in the opposite direction. The trend is towards ultra-thin laptops where the processor, memory and storage chips are all soldered in and cannot be upgraded. Further, sealed cases are making it increasingly difficult to replace failing keyboards, cracked screens and glued-in batteries. Unless laptops are still under warranty, it may be simpler to replace them than to repair them. Continue reading...

Charity urges UK government to expand national network of public charging pointsAn inadequate public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the UK is forcing drivers to take risks by opting for highly dangerous alternatives at home, an electrical safety charity has warned.Three-quarters of those who resort to charging from their home mains supply using a domestic extension lead even admit to risky “daisy-chaining” – using multiple extension leads plugged into one another – to reach their car, according to a survey by Electrical Safety First. Continue reading...

Social justice and limitless abundance – a leftwing provocateur serves up some techno-optimism“Under Fully Automated Luxury Communism,” writes Aaron Bastani towards the conclusion of this short, dizzyingly confident book, “we will see more of the world than ever before, eat varieties of food we have never heard of, and lead lives equivalent – if we so wish – to those of today’s billionaires. Luxury will pervade everything as society based on waged work becomes as much a relic as the feudal peasant ...”In the doomy world of 2019, to come across this forecast is quite a shock. Enormous optimism about humanity’s long-term future; faith in technology, and in our wise use of it; a guilt-free enthusiasm for material goods; and yet also a belief that an updated form of communism should be 21st-century society’s organising principle – these are Bastani’s main themes. The immediate temptation is to see the book as some sort of joke: a satire, or a political prank. Continue reading...

After turning walking into a game, franchise now aims to ‘reward good sleep habits as part of a healthy lifestyle’The Pokémon Company has announced a new game in line with its hit Pokémon Go, called Pokémon Sleep, which aims to “turn sleeping into entertainment”.The new game involves tracking a player’s sleep patterns to affect gameplay, and was announced during a press conference which covered topics as varied as the franchise’s official expansion into China and Pokémon-branded dress shirts coming to the west. Continue reading...

Court hears boy, who hacked the tech giant’s systems when he was 13 and 15, was trying to secure a job with the companyAn Adelaide teenager who twice hacked into Apple’s computer systems has been placed on a good-behaviour bond.The 17-year-old boy, who can’t be named, hacked the tech giant’s systems first when he was just 13 and then again when he was 15. Continue reading...

Mark Zuckerberg met governor of Bank of England last month to discuss decisionFacebook is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency in early 2020, allowing users to make digital payments in a dozen countries.The currency, dubbed GlobalCoin, would enable Facebook’s 2.4 billion monthly users to change dollars and other international currencies into its digital coins. The coins could then be used to buy things on the internet and in shops and other outlets, or to transfer money without needing a bank account. Continue reading...

Barrister for information commissioner tells court formal legal framework is requiredThe information commissioner has expressed concern over the lack of a formal legal framework for the use of facial recognition cameras by the police.A barrister for the commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, told a court the current guidelines around automated facial recognition (AFR) technology were “ad hoc” and a clear code was needed. Continue reading...

Panasonic joins Google, Intel and Qualcomm following US ban in what is beginning to shape up as a tech cold warPanasonic has joined the growing list of companies to sever ties with Huawei by announcing that it will stop supplying some components to the Chinese technology conglomerate after a US ban over security concerns.The decision by the Japanese firm on Thursday sent Asia Pacific shares falling again and came a day after four major Japanese and British mobile carriers said they would delay releasing new Huawei handsets. Continue reading...

At a shareholder meeting Wednesday, the CEO refused to address workers urging the company to overhaul its climate policy

GMB tells shareholders that warehouse workers endure targets that cause sufferingTrade unions are lobbying City investors to put pressure on Amazon to improve conditions for its workers in the UK.At a meeting at the TUC’s head office this month the GMB union made presentations, including one from an Amazon employee, to a dozen leading fund managers and pension funds that own stakes in Amazon including Legal & General, Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard. Continue reading...

Exclusive: plans to put network transmitters on tall structures has caused dozens of disputesThe rollout of the 5G telecommunications network is being stalled by at least two years over legal wrangling about the control of millions of lampposts, the Guardian can reveal.Lampposts have suddenly become hot property because 5G requires the installation of transmitters on a dense network of masts taller than a double-decker bus. As a result, mobile network operators (MNOs) are clamouring for access to lampposts and other tall structures in cities, and are threatening legal action to any local authorities or landlords who stand in their way. Continue reading...

New model joins cheaper OnePlus 7 as Chinese firm goes after Samsung and HuaweiHaving made a name for itself for cut-price top-spec phones, OnePlus now has its sights set on the Samsung Galaxy S10+ and Huawei P30 Pro with its new OnePlus 7 Pro.Costing from £649 the new premium OnePlus still undercuts the competition by about £250, but isn’t quite as value-oriented as previous offerings. Continue reading...

PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4; Avalanche Studios/Bethesda Softworks

LA court rejects Telsa chief’s attempt to dismiss Vernon Unsworth’s defamation lawsuitElon Musk will have to go to trial to defend himself for mocking a British diver and baselessly calling him a paedophile.The verbal sparring match unfolded last summer after the underwater rescue of youth football players trapped in a Thailand cave. Continue reading...

Apple, Google and Facebook are racing to embrace the latest buzzword, and taking swipes at each other in the process“Privacy cannot be a luxury good offered only to people who can afford to buy premium products and services,” declared Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of Google, in a New York Times op-ed this week. “Privacy must be equally available to everyone in the world.”Pichai’s column, published in conjunction with Google’s annual developer conference, was a two-pronged public relations offensive: an attempt by the company that has been one of the chief architects and primary beneficiaries of digital surveillance to wrap itself in the mantle of privacy, while simultaneously taking a swipe at one of its competitors. Continue reading...

As drivers protest and the IPO roadshow rolls on, investors need to ask some tough questionsGood luck to those Uber workers protesting about wages and working conditions. They picked their moment to coincide with this week’s IPO in New York, in which the company is set to be priced at $90bn (£70bn) or thereabouts, and they chose well. You do not have to be a bleeding heart liberal to think something obscene is happening when Uber drivers tell tales of sleeping in their cars to make ends meet while the founder, Travis Kalanick, has his shareholding valued at roughly $7bn.Financial markets don’t waste much time pondering questions of moral justice, of course but even hard-hearted investors should ask if the implied hopes for Uber’s eventual profitability are even vaguely grounded in reality. Two passages in the IPO prospectus are striking. The first, on page 30, reveals more than Uber’s glib response to the protesters that it is continuously working to improve drivers’ “experience”. Here’s the long-term thinking: Continue reading...

Protests take place in UK, US, Brazil and Australia as ride-hailing app prepares for stock market debutUber drivers have gone on strike in the UK, US and other countries including Brazil and Australia to demand better pay and conditions ahead of the ride-hailing app’s stock market debut.Thousands protested against what one UK trade union labelled “poverty pay” ahead of Friday’s flotation, which will crystalise multi-million and multi-billion dollar fortunes for early investors, including the Uber founder, Travis Kalanick, and the Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos. Uber hopes to raise $9bn (£6.9bn) in new funds and is expected to be valued at up to $91.5bn when the valuation of the shares is announced on Thursday. Continue reading...

More than 150 workers at the developer’s Los Angeles HQ join protest – the largest such walkout in video game industry historyEmployees of Riot Games, makers of popular online battle video game League of Legends, staged a mass walkout on Monday to protest against the company’s handling of lawsuits brought against it alleging workplace sexism and misconduct. It is the largest such walkout in video game industry history.Around 150 workers at Riot’s Los Angeles headquarters participated in the protest, according to a report by video games website Kotaku, which also broke allegations of a sexist and often hostile work environment from dozens of employees in an investigation last year. They were protesting against Riot’s policy of forced arbitration, which strong-arms employees into company-led negotiations in the event of lawsuits, removing the right to a jury or judge-led verdict. Google recently ended forced arbitration entirely in response to protests involving 20,000 employees. Continue reading...

The social media firm is deleting billions of fake accounts as it takes on a torrent of fake news, disinformation and hate speechLess than three years ago, Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, dismissed as “crazy” the idea that fake news on his platform could have influenced the election of Donald Trump as US president.Today the company admits it is under siege from billions of fake accounts trying to game its systems to win elections, make money or influence people in other ways, and battling a tsunami of fake news, disinformation and hate speech. Continue reading...

Despite privacy scandals, Facebook is more profitable than ever – journalists must use the tools of tech to understand whyA dark shadow looms over our networked world. It’s called the “privacy paradox”. The main commercial engine of this world involves erosion of, and intrusions upon, our privacy. Whenever researchers, opinion pollsters and other busybodies ask people if they value their privacy, they invariably respond with a resounding “yes”. The paradox arises from the fact that they nevertheless continue to use the services that undermine their beloved privacy.If you want confirmation, then look no further than Facebook. In privacy-scandal terms, 2018 was an annus horribilis for the company. Yet the results show that by almost every measure that matters to Wall Street, it has had a bumper year. The number of daily active users everywhere is up; average revenue per user is up 19% on last year, while overall revenue for the last quarter of 2018 is 30.4% up on the same quarter in 2017. In privacy terms, the company should be a pariah. At least some of its users must be aware of this. But it apparently makes no difference to their behaviour. Continue reading...

Domingo Cullen recalls how the site’s recommendation engine left him ‘entranced by thoroughly useless information’The wild elephants turn back to salute the men who have saved their baby from the ditch. They raise their trunks aloft with wondrous grace in a moment shared between man and beast. I don’t blink, hardly twitch. Lit by the glow of the laptop screen, my face shows no flicker of emotion. The video finishes and the next one begins to load. “Electrocuted squirrel gets CPR by kind man.”Unbeknownst to me, the daylight has faded across to the other side of the Earth, and I am in darkness. I am lying on my bed in the fetal position, as I have been for three hours straight … watching YouTube. Continue reading...

Company announced last week it had lost $702m in the first three months of the year and sold 31% fewer vehicles in the first quarterTesla is seeking to raise $2.3bn after its latest results heightened concerns that the troubled car company is running out of cash.Last week, Tesla announced it had lost $702m in the first three months of the year and had sold 31% fewer vehicles in the first quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2018. The company had $2.2bn of cash at the end of the quarter, down 40% from the $3.7bn it had the previous quarter. Tesla ended the quarter with about $10bn in debts. Continue reading...

With $128,308 per capita in annual gross domestic product, Silicon Valley residents out-produce almost every nation on the planetWere it real, the Sultanate of Silicon Valley would be among the world’s richest countries.Cranking out $128,308 per capita in annual gross domestic product (GDP), residents in California’s tech belt out-produce almost every nation on the planet. The valley’s output, pegged at $275bn by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, is higher than Finland’s. Continue reading...

Legal opinion welcome by company facing French calls for greater regulationAirbnb has taken a step closer to avoiding onerous national regulations after an adviser to the European court of justice said the company should be regarded as a digital service provider.Maciej Szpunar, one of the ECJ’s advocates general, found that Airbnb was what Brussels would describe as an information society service, a status that comes with the right to operate freely across the EU. Continue reading...

Virginia recruitment company removes discriminatory listing following a backlash on TwitterThe tech industry has long grappled with problems tied to diversity and inclusion, but a job listing this month seeking “preferably Caucasian” applicants has proved a particularly egregious example.A job listing from Cynet Systems, a tech recruiting firm based in Virginia, sought an account manager who is “preferably Caucasian who has good technical background”. After a number of Twitter users called attention to the listing, it was removed on Sunday. Continue reading...

The SEC sued Musk last year after he tweeted that he would take Tesla private, which the agency said violated securities lawsElon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has reached a deal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a dispute over his use of Twitter, according to a court filing on Friday.Musk has agreed to submit public statements about the company’s finances to vetting by its legal counsel, the filing said. Continue reading...

Drivers will turn off apps in seven US cities on 8 May as collectives condemn IPO for lining executives’ pocketsUber drivers in the US will stage a shutdown for 12 hours to protest against poor working conditions and low wages as the company goes public in May.Drivers will log off the app in seven cities starting at noon on 8 May, the day Uber is expected to make its IPO. Drivers in San Francisco will also protest in front of the Uber headquarters. The action is backed by driver collectives including Gig Workers Rising in northern California, Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles and Chicago Rideshare Advocates. Continue reading...

Plans to encourage candidates in any leadership contest to ban ‘non-core’ 5G equipment

Jordan Erica Webber looks at a local crime brief that defied Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change, one that promised to transform users’ news feeds.In March 2019, journalist Will Oremus was reading through a report on Facebook’s latest publishing trends. One aspect of the study caught his eye.A 119-word, local crime brief was the most shared news story on all of English-language Facebook in the first three months of 2019. Continue reading...

Roger Waters | Rock concerts | Use-by dates | Exercise | SmartphonesRegarding Jeremy Beecham’s thoughts on Roger Waters (Letters, 19 April), I think we can take it as read Waters would not encourage Madonna to support the Assad regime by playing Damascus.

The all-new Cupra Ateca is a scorchingly fast SUV that will appeal to anyone who grew up loving performance carsCupra Ateca

Several countries have rejected Chinese telecoms firm over national security fears

Thousands had difficulty accessing social networks including Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, says tracking siteFacebook has said it has restored services on Sunday after some users were unable to access its social networking site, photo-sharing network Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp. However, Facebook did not specify the cause or scope of the outages.Related: Facebook to use AI to stop telling users to say hi to dead friends Continue reading...

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VicHealth says alcohol industry’s use of social media is ‘underhanded’ and meant to influence young peopleMost of Australia’s top 70 Instagram personalities are under the influence of the alcohol industry, with almost three-quarters featuring alcoholic drinks in their accounts in the past year.However, a study published by VicHealth on Tuesday found only one-quarter of those endorsements fully disclosed that they were a sponsored alcohol collaboration with a brand. Influencers ranged from reality television personalities to models. Continue reading...