Technology | The Guardian

Activists say the company’s work, which includes commercial partnerships with law enforcement, harms communities of colorAmazon on Monday became the latest tech company to face criticism for sharing public-facing statements supporting police reform and the Black Lives Matter movement while continuing internal policies and business practices that perpetuate the status quo.Amazon on Twitter has called for an end to “the inequitable and brutal treatment of black people” in the US and has put a “Black lives matter” banner at the top of its home page. Its chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, on Sunday posted on Instagram an email from a customer criticizing the BLM banner on Amazon’s home page, and said the emailer is the kind of customer he’s “happy to lose”. Continue reading...

Love The Sims, but wish it were more in line with your green sensibilities? The famous life-simulation game has had an eco makeover in its new expansion packThe Sims is often held up as a shiny, romanticised example of the capitalist ideal: work hard, earn money, acquire stuff, and happiness will follow. The game is stranger and funnier than that in reality – browse Sims YouTube for half an hour and you’ll quickly see that the stories players tell within this world are far weirder and more diverse than “get money, get happy”, often involving ghosts, thwarted dreams and scandalous pregnancies – but it’s still very much Conspicuous Consumption: The Game.Last week, however, The Sims went explicitly eco-conscious with a new expansion pack, Eco Lifestyle, which lets you design Sims and neighbourhoods around sustainability and climate-conscious choices. Or sack all of that off and live in a filthy, smoggy nightmare town covered in trash. The Sims has never judged you. Continue reading...

Firm’s plan to replace editors with AI backfires after wrong image of musician is publishedMicrosoft’s decision to replace human journalists with robots has backfired, after the tech company’s artificial intelligence software illustrated a news story about racism with a photo of the wrong mixed-race member of the band Little Mix.A week after the Guardian revealed plans to fire the human editors who run MSN.com and replace them with Microsoft’s artificial intelligence code, an early rollout of the software resulted in a story about the singer Jade Thirlwall’s personal reflections on racism being illustrated with a picture of her fellow band member Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Continue reading...

Exclusive: pressure grows on website’s founder over refusal to take down president’s postsPressure from Facebook staff is continuing to mount on Mark Zuckerberg over his policies towards posts by Donald Trump, with moderators joining those criticising their boss for his stance.The moderators penned an open letter to their colleagues in support of virtual walkouts that have broken out at the company, after Zuckerberg refused to take down posts by Trump that many believed breached the site’s policies on incitement of violence. Continue reading...

If software is not kept up-to-date, items can lose functionality and become a security riskSmart appliances that can be controlled remotely and will let you know if there is a fault or other problem may not be worth paying extra for unless manufacturers commit to keeping software updated, Which? has warned.The consumer group said that smart fridges, dishwashers and tumble dryers cost hundreds of pounds more than their conventional counterparts, but in some cases could be rendered obsolete after as little as two years. Continue reading...

Ministers call for evidence on video games such as Fifa that charge money for rewards

High-profile researchers urge CEO not to let president spread ‘misinformation and incendiary statements’ amid protests over racial injusticeMore than 140 scientists funded by Mark Zuckerberg have said Facebook should not be letting Donald Trump use the social media platform to “spread both misinformation and incendiary statements”.The researchers, who include more than 60 professors at leading US research institutions and one Nobel laureate, sent the Facebook CEO a letter on Saturday asking him to “consider stricter policies on misinformation and incendiary language that harms people”, especially during the current turmoil over racial injustice. Continue reading...

Still nimble-fingered pensioner Hamako Mori holds Guinness world record as oldest gaming YouTuberEvery day 90-year-old Japanese grandma Hamako Mori flexes her fingers to keep them nimble. Not for knitting or needlepoint, but to stay in shape for playing video games.The pensioner known as “Gamer Grandma” spends three or more hours a day battling monsters and going on missions in the virtual worlds of her favourite games, and even has a popular YouTube channel for her fans. Continue reading...

Donald Trump knows that Facebook can help him win in November, and Zuckerberg has too much to lose by censoring himWatching the violent chaos night after night in the US, I keep thinking of what Benjamin Franklin said to the woman who asked him, as he emerged from the constitutional convention in 1787: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” To which he famously replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.” What’s happening on the streets there at the moment suggests that they could be coming close to losing it.When Trump was elected, I was assured by my American friends that the republic’s democratic institutions, conventions and constitution were strong enough to rein in the narcissistic despot. Sure, it might be a rollercoaster ride, they conceded, but the republic would pull through. Well, if my transatlantic email is anything to go by, some of that cheery confidence seems to have evaporated. Continue reading...

CEO acknowledges many staff believe social network ‘should have labeled’ president’s post criticized for inciting violenceMark Zuckerberg has said Facebook will review its content policies after facing widespread backlash, including from its own employees, over the decision to leave up controversial posts from Donald Trump.Facebook will look at improving content policies while also building products to advance racial justice, the CEO said on Friday in response to the protests in the United States. Continue reading...

After 70-plus folds a day for four months, the screen is pristine, the hinge is smooth, and it’s still the most interesting phone of the yearWhen Samsung released its Galaxy Z Flip, a phone with a screen that folds in half, the big question was whether the technology was really ready for use outside a lab. I spent the last four months with it to find out.Samsung’s second attempt at a smartphone with a folding screen, the Galaxy Z Flip promised one thing above all: a big, tall display that fits in a pocket. Continue reading...

The president’s account can remain on the platform, but will not be promoted in its Discover featureCiting a commitment not to “amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice”, Snap said on Wednesday that it will no longer promote Donald Trump’s posts to users who do not already follow him, increasing pressure on Facebook over its stance on the president’s violent rhetoric.“We are not currently promoting the president’s content on Snapchat’s Discover platform,” a spokesperson for Snap said in a statement, referring to a section of the social media app where users can see content from news outlets, professional publishers and public figures. Continue reading...

Firm that said privacy no longer a ‘social norm’ rolls out tool to delete or archiveFacebook users no longer need to worry about their teenage posts coming back to haunt them in later life, thanks to a new tool for deleting hundreds or thousands of posts at once.The “manage activity” feature, available now on Facebook’s mobile apps, lets users search for and remove posts from a particular time, mentioning a particular person, or within a range of dates. Continue reading...

Google also aims to be part of rise in teleconferencing during coronavirus crisis

The teleconferencing company made $27m in the first quarter and expects sales to double despite security and privacy fearsCoronavirus latest updatesThe teleconferencing company Zoom has seen a massive increase in profits and has doubled its annual sales forecast, driven by a surge in users as more people work from home and connect with friends online during the coronavirus crisis.The once-obscure Zoom Video Communications, which has rapidly emerged as the latest Silicon Valley gold mine, released financial results on Tuesday showing the astronomical growth that has turned it into a stock market star. Continue reading...

Tom Cotton tells MPs the US will review intelligence sharing if firm’s kit is usedA Republican senator told MPs that using Huawei kit in 5G phone networks would be akin to allowing Russia to build submarines for western nations during the cold war, in a tense hearing that saw him clash with opposition MPs.Tom Cotton, who represents Arkansas, said he had geopolitical and technical objections to Huawei and claimed that, if hacked, its equipment could track the movements of key parts for F-35 fighter jets. Continue reading...

Is that accent dire? Is that disguise realistic? Could that car chase have really happened like that? This YouTube series brings in the expertsTo put on an accent is to invite criticism. We all remember those performances in which an actor has taken a flying leap at mimicking a linguistic form that is not their own and either nailed it, or sailed so far off the side of the balance beam they’ve landed on a broken ankle. In the former camp, in my books: Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker (it’s like she was born in Australia!) and Ben Schnetzer in Pride (he’s not from Northern Ireland?!). In the latter camp, well, you should hear my “Anthony Newley’s ‘Oirish’ accent in Doctor Dolittle” impression.That’s why when Wired teamed up with the dialect coach Eric Singer for Technique Critique, a 2016 video essay in which Singer assessed the performances of 32 actors doing accents, it was like Christmas for me. Continue reading...

Feature will not be part of app’s next release following accusations of hypocrisyGrindr is removing an “ethnicity filter” from its dating app as part of its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, the company announced on Monday.The controversial feature, limited to those who stump up £12.99 a month for the premium version of the app, allows users to sort search results based on reported ethnicity, height, weight and other characteristics. Continue reading...

The company recently announced it had raised an extra $4.1bn to be used for ‘strategic’ investmentsThe government-owned National Broadband Network should consider buying fibre networks from Telstra and other fibre operators across Australia covering up to 300,000 homes, Labor has said.Last month, NBN Co announced it had managed to raise an extra $4.1bn in private debt facility, pushing the total debt to be taken on by the company to $55bn. Continue reading...

Scientists use kirigami techniques to create a sole with pop-up, high-friction spikesThe Japanese art of paper cutting and folding, or kirigami, has led to mind-bending 3D structures from 2D sheets, including spectacular pop-up designs. But now researchers have been getting to grips with the technique for a very down-to-earth reason: creating non-slip shoes.Scientists have revealed they have developed a kirigami-inspired sole, where tiny spikes pop up from its surface as the shoe is bent during walking. The team found the spikes enhance grip, which could help prevent potentially fatal falls. Continue reading...

Lockdown has been good for Jelle’s Marble Runs, which has acquired more than 1m YouTube subscribers

The standout moments in this cutting-edge action game come not just from the many thrilling set pieces – but from the quiet intensity of the conversationsNow 25 years on from the outbreak, Seattle is completely overgrown. Abandoned cars are still lined up on the highway, rusted and rooted down by vegetation bursting through the tarmac. Skyscrapers still pierce the sky, their metal skeletons exposed by the bombs that were dropped in early, vain attempts to contain the fungal sickness that was spreading through the population. In any one of these buildings, there could still be the infected: aggressive runners, who still retain at least the appearance of humanity, or the skin-crawling clickers, hosts who have long since lost their sight and selves to the fungus – or worse.As usual in post-apocalyptic fiction, there are also other people out to do you harm. In The Last of Us Part II, you are Ellie, a 19-year-old survivor who happens to be the only known person with immunity to the contagion that’s destroyed humanity – but immunity won’t save her from bullets, or from being savaged to death, so whenever you get into a combat situation the tension is absurdly high. This isn’t a game with shootouts and explosions and powerful weapons – instead it’s desperate grappling with a knife, improvised molotov cocktails, hiding prone in long grass while people patrol with guard dogs. Continue reading...

Test your knowledge of the online world – and discover how easy it is to launch a website for your business

The NHS test and trace app fails on several counts; no wonder ministers are resorting to peer pressure to encourage uptake

Automatons have been chipping in with the effort to beat Covid, from disinfecting hospitals to delivering groceriesSingapore park-goers have been reminded of their social distancing obligations by Boston Dynamics’ yellow “dog”. The robot hound is equipped with numerous cameras and sensors, which it can use to detect transgressors and broadcast pre-recorded warnings. The authorities have reassured locals it is not a quadruped data-collection device. Continue reading...

The platform’s moves to counter the president’s disinformation may be too little, too late, but it’s somethingIn addition to washing your hands while singing the first two verses of The Internationale, it might be a good time also to clean out your Twitter feed. According to a recent report of a research study by Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems, about 45% of the false narratives about Covid-19 on Twitter are sent by bots.The study examined more than 100 false Covid narratives (including the 5G conspiracy theories) pushed in over 200m tweets since January. If you’re a reader of this newspaper, the likelihood is that you never saw any of these. But that’s because you are – like me – cheerfully encased in your own filter bubble. I write with feeling on this matter, because on the morning after the Brexit referendum I went through the list of about 800 people whom I follow on Twitter, and I could not locate a single one who seemed to have been in favour of Brexit in the run-up to the vote. The shock felt by them after the vote was palpable. But it was also a salutary reminder that anyone who uses social media lives in a digital echo chamber. Continue reading...

The strangest, saddest Zelda stands out in the memories of those of us who played it as children – but it is just as remarkable todayIt’s Termina’s terrifying moon that everyone remembers. Its grimacing, red-eyed stare looms large in the memory, summoning anxious recollections of hours spent watching its terrifying visage inch ever closer to the earth, of time slipping away.Majora’s Mask recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Sequel to the groundbreaking The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it was released in April 2000, only 16 months after Ocarina’s initial release. Much has been written about the motivations behind the game’s unusually speedy development, not all of it in agreement, but an interesting consequence of this abbreviated production is that instead of producing new 3D models for the game, the developers reused the game engine and graphics from Ocarina. This gives Majora’s Mask an uncanny mirror-world quality that enhances its themes of isolation, identity and transformation. Continue reading...

Users of the homepages of the MSN website and Edge browser will now see news stories generated by AIDozens of journalists have been sacked after Microsoft decided to replace them with artificial intelligence software.Staff who maintain the news homepages on Microsoft’s MSN website and its Edge browser – used by millions of Britons every day – have been told that they will be no longer be required because robots can now do their jobs. Continue reading...

Twitter responded to the president’s post, which suggested violence against protesters, by hiding it behind a warning labelAs Twitter for the second time in a single week took unprecedented action against a tweet by Donald Trump, Facebook declined to take any enforcement action against the president’s statements.Trump’s threatening statement on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on Thursday night, “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” echoed a racist 1960s police chief known for ordering patrols of black neighborhoods with shotguns and dogs. It was widely interpreted as a threat and potential incitement to violence against residents of the Twin Cities who have erupted in protest against the alleged police killing of George Floyd, a black man who begged for his life as a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. Continue reading...

Warning on ‘when looting starts, shooting starts’ post risks further escalation of row between firm and presidentTwitter has hidden one of Donald Trump’s tweets behind a warning that it “glorifies violence”, further escalating the social media company’s row with the US president.The US president’s tweet, posted on Thursday night Washington time, warned people in Minneapolis protesting against the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer that he would send the military to intervene if there was “any difficulty”. Continue reading...

Tired of high-res graphics and cinematic story arcs? Here are some of the best old-school video games you can play todayIn difficult times, nostalgia can be a balm, and sometimes you want your games to be totally uncomplicated. Currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, the original iteration of Pac-Man still rules. It is a simple game – gobble the dots, avoid the ghosts – but the genius is in the details: did you know that each ghost behaves slightly differently according to their personality?

Australian comedy team’s deliberately untrue post has been viewed by 1.2 million people in less than 12 hoursAn Australian satirical news site crashed on Friday after it went viral for mocking Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to fact-check social media with a deliberately provocative post.Related: Elizabeth Warren trolls Facebook with 'false' Zuckerberg ad Continue reading...

Spotify data reveals shift in habits as office workers choose home-themed playlists

Trump has used and abused the platform for long enough. And his latest executive order is just another distractionThe president’s executive order on social media will kick off a heated debate over free speech on the internet that will, in all likelihood, lead to nothing. This manufactured dispute is a distraction for the media, and it will almost certainly be an effective one. It would be in everyone’s interest – including its own – if Twitter pulled the plug on this specious debate, banned Trump for repeated and egregious violations of its rules, and helped us all focus on what’s more important.More than 100,000 people in the United States have died of Covid-19, more than any other nation in the world. The figure is probably an undercount.More than 1.7 million people in the US have had confirmed cases of Covid-19, more than any other nation in the world. The figure is almost certainly an undercount.The US federal government completely botched the rollout of testing for the coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic, and continues to lag in providing adequate testing for its populace. Continue reading...

President announced plan to strip social media companies of liability protections after Twitter factchecked his tweetsTwo years after admitting under political pressure that Facebook must do more to prevent disinformation campaigns on its platform, founder Mark Zuckerberg told Fox News on Thursday that the company should step away from regulating online speech.Related: Trump expected to sign executive order in bid to target Twitter and Facebook Continue reading...

President’s planned weakening of social media law may not have effect he thinks it willDonald Trump’s apparent plans to punish Twitter for appending a factcheck to his claims that mail-in ballots would be “substantially fraudulent” could reshape the web – but not necessarily in the ways he or his supporters intend.Trump’s expected avenue of attack focuses on section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That law underpins much of how the internet is regulated in the United States, by effectively creating the hybrid publisher/platform model that has become the norm for social media companies worldwide. Continue reading...

Riot Games’ new shooter is already being hailed as a threat to Fortnite, Counter-Strike and Overwatch – and barely anyone has played it yet

Practically every running stat, great battery life, offline Spotify and comprehensive health-tracking in a small and light sports watchThe Forerunner 245 is Garmin’s excellent performance running watch and sets a new benchmark against which the competition should be measured.Two versions are available: one which can download music and one which cannot at a recommended retail price of £299.99 or £249.99 respectively. It came out in April 2019 to replace the popular Forerunner 235. Continue reading...

Decision says Meng Wanzhou’s alleged actions in the US would be considered a crime in Canada, a key condition for extraditionA Canadian judge has dealt a major blow to a senior Huawei executive’s attempts to evade extradition to the United States, ruling that the high-profile case against Meng Wanzhou can proceed.The British Columbia supreme court justice Heather Holmes ruled on Wednesday that the alleged actions of Meng would be considered a crime in Canada – a key condition for extradition to proceed. Continue reading...

In the shadow of plot devices like destiny and impending doom, moments of kindness give journeys emotional powerIt is a narrative standard in role-playing adventure games: the hero is pitted against a Big Evil, who has a strategic or chaotic hunger to destroy the world we know. From Shinra’s greedy harvesting of the planet’s resources in Final Fantasy VII Remake to Ganondorf’s quest for power and destruction across more than 30 years of Legend of Zelda games, the stakes are always astronomically high.But what really makes these fictional realms worth saving? Role-playing games need to offer more than a sequence of linked events toward a monumental finale. A world is made of people, not just objectives. Continue reading...

Police investigate whether fire at a telecommunications tower at Cranbourne West in Melbourne was suspiciousAustralian mobile companies are seeking to head off any outbreak of anti-5G arson attacks on telecommunications infrastructure, stating they are working with police to keep an eye out for potential incidents.Victoria police announced on Friday an investigation had commenced into a fire at a telecommunications tower at Cranbourne West in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Continue reading...

Video platform blames deletion of criticisms on an error in its automated systemsYouTube is investigating the apparently automatic removal of comments critical of the Chinese Communist party amid complaints of censorship.The company said the filtering appeared to be “an error” amid a greater reliance on automated systems during the coronavirus pandemic because its human reviewers have been sent home. Continue reading...

At least 11 stations present story offering ‘glimpse inside’ Amazon, after company apparently sent material to reporters

Exploit is first to work on fully-updated devices for four years and could be used maliciouslyA newly discovered vulnerability in iPhones allows users to bypass Apple’s built-in limitations – known as “jailbreaking” – including, for the first time in four years, on new devices.The release of a functional jailbreak for iOS 13.5, the latest version of the iPhone operating system, represents a breakthrough for the small community of users who rely on jailbreaks for everything from serious security research to simply running games and software that Apple does not allow on iPhones. Continue reading...

Mojang Studios; Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One (version tested)

Tech entrepreneur and musician have changed their child’s name from X Æ A-12 to X Æ A-Xii, without much explanationThe tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and the musician Grimes have changed the unusual and largely unpronounceable name of their firstborn child. But anyone hoping that X Æ A-12 might be replaced by something a little more conventional is going to be disappointed.In an Instagram post on Sunday, Grimes confirmed that the baby formerly known as X Æ A-12 would now be known as X Æ A-Xii. Continue reading...

Firms becoming more inventive to survive, and increasing numbers turning to the e-commerce platformWhen the lockdown forced the Pizza Pilgrims chain to close, the company came up with an unusual solution to stay in business.The company, with restaurants in London and Oxford and run by brothers Thom and James Elliot – who started out selling Neapolitan pizza from the back of a converted Piaggio Ape van – hit on the novel idea of posting pizza kits to customers. Continue reading...

From farming to trucking to bus driving, why do millions play games that replicate regular jobs in forensic detail?There is no escape for me this time. The rear axle of my pick-up truck is wedged on a boulder protruding from the mud in the middle of a deserted backwater road in Michigan. I’ve tried to attach a winch to a nearby tree to pull myself out, but it’s not working. I will have to abandon the vehicle, fit up another and try again. This load of timber is not going to deliver itself.I am playing Snowrunner, the latest in a series of painstakingly authentic offroad delivery simulator games in which players have to haul goods through a variety of unforgiving landscapes at speeds that would shame a garden snail. Before each trip you have to select exactly the right vehicle for the job, fit the correct tyres and work out your likely fuel consumption to the nearest millilitre. On the frozen roads of northern Alaska, there is no room for shoddy planning. Continue reading...

Government set for climbdown after US bans on Chinese telecoms group and growing resistance from backbenchersThe National Cyber Security Centre in the UK is expected to conclude that US sanctions against Huawei will make it impossible to use the Chinese company’s technology as planned for 5G networks.The emergency review, announced on Sunday, is designed to pave the way for Downing Street to push for the total elimination of Huawei equipment in British phone networks by 2023 and quell a Conservative backbench revolt. Continue reading...