Coinbase’s former chief technology officer wants to use social networks to create states. What doesn’t fit into his vision are things like poverty, illness and ageingIn The Network State, a buzzy new book by Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer of Coinbase, poses a devious question: how do you Larp a country into existence?Released provocatively this 4 July, the book presents Srinivasan’s case for a new model of digital statehood run and managed in the cloud. A network state, as he describes it, is basically a group of people who get together on the internet and decide that they’re going to start a country. With a social network to connect them, a leader to unite them, and a cryptocurrency to protect their assets, Srinivasan says a country can be born with laws, social services and all. A network state is a country that “anyone can start from your computer, beginning by building a following” – not unlike companies, cryptocurrencies, or decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). In a world where billionaires can run companies larger than countries, Srinivasan asks, could such a state achieve recognition from the United Nations?Sam Venis is a writer based in New York Continue reading...

From cyberspace to AI, Steven Lisberger’s 1982 sci-fi classic was way ahead of its time. The team behind it explain how they made a game-changerBack in 1982, computers meant one of two things in the popular imagination. Either they were room-sized machines used by the military-industrial complex to crunch data on stuff like nuclear wars and stock markets, or they were fridge-sized arcade games such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man. Kraftwerk were singing about home computers, but if you owned one at all, it was probably a Sinclair ZX81, which was only marginally more sophisticated than a calculator.And yet, that summer, cinemagoers were catapulted into the digital future. Few appreciated it at the time but with 40 years’ hindsight, Steven Lisberger’s sci-fi adventure Tron was the shape of things to come: in cinema, in real life, and in virtual life. As a piece of entertainment, it is admittedly no classic, but thematically, Tron anticipates issues we are still grappling with today: artificial intelligence, digital identity, privacy, personal data, the dominance of big tech. Tron was also the first attempt to visualise the digital realm itself – what was then called “cyberspace” but might now be termed “the metaverse”. Tron’s cyber-world looks quaintly low-res by today’s standards – a minimalist, angular, black-and-neon environment resembling a 1980s nightclub – but its distinctive retro chic is still much cherished and mimicked. Continue reading...

A reader writes that their 79-year-old relative can’t access her tablet or iCloud accountMy 79-year-old mother has found herself locked out of her Apple iCloud account and denied access to many years’ worth of family photos saved on her original iPad.She has had long periods in hospital and her iPad is very precious. The device concerned is a old model and she neglected to update the software. Continue reading...

Trial will take treatments from Portsmouth to St Mary’s hospital and health service plans similar drops elsewhere in EnglandThe NHS plans to use drones to fly chemotherapy drugs to cancer patients in England to avoid the need for long journeys to collect them.The devices will transport doses from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight in a trial that, if successful, will lead to drones being used for similar drops elsewhere. Continue reading...

Changes to online safety bill require tech firms to minimise people’s exposure to ‘hostile online warfare’Tech firms will be required to shield internet users from state-sponsored disinformation posing a threat to UK society and democracy, under changes to a landmark online safety bill.The legislation will require social media platforms, video streaming services and search engines to take action to minimise people’s exposure to foreign state-backed disinformation aimed at interfering with the UK. Such content would, for instance, include incidents such as the video of Ben Wallace being prank-called earlier this year by Russian hoaxers pretending to be the Ukrainian prime minister. Continue reading...

The move follows changes across the EU that made it simpler for users to quit the subscription serviceQuitting an Amazon Prime membership is a confusing business that can often feel like it takes longer than the next-day delivery the service promises. By the end of next month, however, UK subscribers will be able to leave with just two simple clicks.The change will be implemented after complaints from consumer groups succeeded in bringing changes to the subscription service across the EU last week. Continue reading...

Personal information allegedly taken from Shanghai police database would be one of biggest data breaches in historyA hacker has claimed to have stolen the personal information of 1 billion Chinese citizens from a Shanghai police database, in what would amount to one of the biggest data breaches in history if found to be true.The anonymous hacker, identified only as “ChinaDan”, posted on hacker forum Breach Forums last week offering to sell the more than 23 terabytes (TB) of data for 10 bitcoin, equivalent to about $200,000 (£165,000). Continue reading...

Online retailer opening ‘micromobility’ hub in Hackney as part of efforts to cut carbon emissionsAmazon is launching a fleet of e-cargo bikes and a team of on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries on London’s roads.The online retailer is opening its first “micromobility” hub in Hackney, east London, which – along with an existing fleet of electric vehicles – will contribute to 5m deliveries a year across about a 10th of the capital’s ultra low emission zone postcode districts. The bikes will be operated by a variety of partner businesses, not directly by Amazon, it is understood. Continue reading...

Tissue-regrowing implants, which will enter human trials next week, could provide comfortable and accessible alternatives to siliconeHaving an ice pack strapped to your chest – that’s how some describe the experience of taking a walk in cold weather when you have breast implants. Silicone only slowly reaches body temperature once out of the cold, so that icy feeling can persist for hours. As well as being uncomfortable, for breast cancer survivors it can be an unwelcome reminder of a disease they would rather put behind them.Every year, 2 million people worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer and the treatment often involves removing at least one breast. But most choose not to have their breasts reconstructed; in the UK, it is only about 30%. Now a handful of startups want to change that, armed with 3D-printed implants that grow new breast tissue before breaking down without a trace. “The whole implant is fully degradable,” says Julien Payen, CEO of the startup Lattice Medical, “so after 18 months you don’t have any product in your body.” Continue reading...

‘I can’t remember anything’ is a common complaint these days. But is it because we rely so heavily on our smartphones? And do the endless alerts and distractions stop us forming new memories?Last week, I missed a real-life meeting because I hadn’t set a reminder on my smartphone, leaving someone I’d never met before alone in a café. But on the same day, I remembered the name of the actor who played Will Smith’s aunt in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1991 (Janet Hubert). Memory is weird, unpredictable and, neuroscientifically, not yet entirely understood. When memory lapses like mine happen (which they do, a lot), it feels both easy and logical to blame the technology we’ve so recently adopted. Does having more memory in our pockets mean there’s less in our heads? Am I losing my ability to remember things – from appointments to what I was about to do next – because I expect my phone to do it for me? Before smartphones, our heads would have held a cache of phone numbers and our memories would contain a cognitive map, built up over time, which would allow us to navigate – for smartphone users, that is no longer true.Our brains and our smartphones form a complex web of interactions: the smartphonification of life has been rising since the mid 2000s, but was accelerated by the pandemic, as was internet use in general. Prolonged periods of stress, isolation and exhaustion – common themes since March 2020 – are well known for their impact on memory. Of those surveyed by memory researcher Catherine Loveday in 2021, 80% felt that their memories were worse than before the pandemic. We are – still – shattered, not just by Covid-19, but also by the miserable national and global news cycle. Many of us self-soothe with distractions like social media. Meanwhile, endless scrolling can, at times, create its own distress, and phone notifications and self interrupting to check for them, also seem to affect what, how and if we remember. Continue reading...

Most of us can read, but is there a way to do it better? Faster? With more comprehension or even … joy?

(Angel Matrix; Annapurna Interactive; Switch, PC)

Sales of non-fungible tokens totalled just over $1bn in June, compared with peak of $12.6bn in JanuaryNon-fungible tokens have been swept up in the cryptocurrency crash as sales reached a 12-month low in June.NFTs confer ownership of a unique digital item – often a piece of virtual art – upon someone, even if that item can be easily copied. Ownership is recorded on a digital, decentralised ledger known as a blockchain. Continue reading...

It took me half an hour to add £30 to my wristband and buy a pint at a festival – no wonder the fiddle player looks dazedThe band I’m in is playing a festival, our first in three years. We were first meant to play here in 2020, but it got cancelled because of Covid. We were rescheduled for 2021, but the festival was cancelled again. It is strange to be keeping this appointment after so much time has passed – it’s like being catapulted into a future where everything is the same, except there is no money.“You have to pay for everything with your wristband,” says the fiddle player when I arrive. He and his wife have been camping at the festival for three days, and he looks like a man possessed of hard-won experience. His eyes have a glazed, faraway look, and he’s basically dressed for skiing. Continue reading...

The company said that sensitive places including fertility centers, clinics and addiction treatment facilities will be erasedGoogle will delete location data showing when users visit an abortion clinic, the online search company said on Friday, after concern that a digital trail could inform law enforcement if an individual terminates a pregnancy illegally.As state laws limiting abortions set in after the US supreme court decided last month that they are no longer guaranteed by the constitution, the technology industry has fretted police could obtain warrants for customers’ search history, geolocation and other information revealing pregnancy plans. Continue reading...

MiCA law contains measures to guard against market abuse and manipulationThe EU has moved to rein in the “wild west” of crypto assets by agreeing a groundbreaking set of rules for the sector, adding to pressure on the UK and US to act too.Representatives from the European parliament and EU states inked an agreement on Thursday that contains measures to guard against market abuse and manipulation, and require that crypto firms provide details of the environmental impact of their assets. Continue reading...

Bulgarian Ruja Ignatova allegedly defrauded investors out of $4bn with fake cryptocurrency scamA woman known as the “Cryptoqueen” who is accused of defrauding investors out of $4bn (£3.3bn) by selling a fake cryptocurrency has been placed on the FBI’s list of its 10 most-wanted fugitives.The story of Ruja Ignatovacame to prominence in 2019 via the BBC’s The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, which detailed her alleged role in a crypto scam called OneCoin. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Bulgarian-born Ignatova, who disappeared in 2017. Continue reading...

Fifteen black former or current employees allege they faced racial abuse and harassment at carmaker’s factoriesFifteen black former or current employees at Tesla have filed a lawsuit against the electric carmaker, alleging they faced racial abuse and harassment at its factories.The workers said they were subjected to offensive racist comments and behaviour by colleagues, managers, and human resources employees on a regular basis, according to the lawsuit filed in a California state court. Continue reading...

OpenSea tells customers and subscribers not to open emails and files ‘sent by strangers’ after revealing breachThe world’s biggest marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has warned its users to be on the alert for email phishing attacks following a massive data leak.OpenSea, where traders exchange the crypto assets, told customers and newsletter subscribers not to open emails and files “sent by strangers” after revealing the breach. Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: The singer reflects on the legacy of Terrence Higgins and life-changing advances in treatment in A Positive Life. Plus: five of the best TV show companion podcasts

Tech giant imposes restrictions on goods such as books and rainbow-coloured flags after threats of penaltiesAmazon has bowed to pressure from the United Arab Emirates and restricted search results for LGBTQ+-related products such as books and rainbow-coloured flags on its website in the country.The company decided to restrict the searches after being threatened with penalties by the UAE government, according to the New York Times which first reported the story. Continue reading...

PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, PC; Codemasters/EA Sports

The musician shares her favourite TikToks and videos, including a DIY Dobby costume, a grandma’s feminist dating advice and a deeply specific Melbourne memeNever in my life have I felt more unfunny than I did while compiling this list. There is nothing that’ll give you the ick faster than someone whipping out their phone to show you something “funny” they’ve seen on the internet, thrusting you into the longest three minutes of your life. Oh and that keen, wide-eyed look they give you after, practically begging for validation? Gross. And somehow, despite knowing this, here I am, desperately hoping that you’ll laugh and think I’m cool.Look, I’m not in the business of being funny. I make music. And that’s the excuse I’ll be sticking to if nothing on this list appeals to you. But if you’re feelin’ frisky, let me whip out my proverbial phone and show you a thing or two … Continue reading...

Savers talk of devastating losses as assets such as bitcoin and ‘stablecoins’ like terra fell sharplyYuri Popovich had watched his neighbours’ houses burn down to the ground in Kyiv and he needed a safe place to put his money. So he did what millions of amateur investors have done in recent years: he turned to cryptocurrency.“It was impossible and unsafe to store funds in the form of banknotes. There was a big risk of theft, we also had cases of looting. Therefore, I trusted a ‘stable and reliable’ cryptocurrency. Not for the purpose of speculating, but simply to save,” he says. Continue reading...

Crypto hedge fund facing collapse after claims of $650m default on loan to Voyager bankThe crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has been lined up for liquidation just days after it was accused of defaulting on a multimillion dollar loan to the crypto bank Voyager.The consultancy firm Teneo confirmed that two individuals from its British Virgin Islands offices had been appointed to oversee the liquidation, after Sky News broke the story. Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: Calls to delete period tracking apps have gone viral in America – but the likes of Facebook and Apple have questions to answer on user privacy too

In light of the supreme court’s verdict, memes and status updates on social media on how to access the medicines have explodedFacebook and Instagram have begun removing posts related to abortion pills, as posts about such medication spiked following the supreme court’s ruling stripping away constitutional protections for abortions.Memes and status updates explaining how people can obtain abortion pills in the mail have exploded across social platforms in recent days. Continue reading...

The company said the move has reduced violence, rule violations and health concerns since last yearAirbnb is making its ban on parties at properties listed on the site for short-term rentals permanent, the company announced on Tuesday.San Francisco-based Airbnb said it believes the ban has worked to reduce violence, rules violations and health concerns, with reports of parties at listed properties having dropped 44% from a year ago. More than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations, the company said. Continue reading...

Silicon Valley used opaque lobbying to weaken crucial new regulations. Firms like Google and Meta must be held to accountThe tide is seemingly turning against Meta, Google and other tech giants. Groundbreaking new European Union legislation is imminent, aimed at forcing the large digital platforms to do more to keep users safe and cutting down market abuses, data capture and surveillance infrastructure.As the Digital Services Act package was being finalised, the very public crossing of swords between Elon Musk and the European Commission over Twitter captured headlines. Yet the Musk spectacle was a sideshow. Continue reading...

Even before the supreme court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the trend to ditch the apps began amid fears of prosecutionMany American women in recent days have deleted period tracking apps from their cellphones, amid fears the data collected by the apps could be used against them in future criminal cases in states where abortion has become illegal.The trend already started last month when a draft supreme court opinion that suggested the court was set to overturn Roe v Wade was leaked, and has only intensified since the court on Friday revoked the federal right to abortion. Continue reading...

Sites such as Letterboxd and GoodReads encourage us to document our cultural consumption. But does gamification get in the way of actually enjoying the arts?The end credits are still rolling when I open up my JustWatch app to mark Luca Guadagnino’s seductive psychodrama A Bigger Splash as “Seen”, complete with satisfying green tick. I click on my Letterboxd account to do the same, logging the date I watched it, before scrolling back and finding my sense of achievement disintegrate into guilt that I have only managed to watch a measly two films in the whole of April.I am one of millions for whom religiously tracking their cultural intake has become as instinctive as recording their steps, workouts, calorie count or periods. Letterboxd – dubbed “the social network for film-lovers”, who can log, review and discuss films with other members – recently hit 6 million members. The Amazon-owned GoodReads, which has been doing the same for books for the past 15 years, has a community of 140 million, with 5.1 million thus far pledged to take part in its 2022 Reading Challenge in which users set a target number of books to read over 12 months. Meanwhile, IMDb has more than 1 billion user reviews logged. Like wellness before it, cultural consumption has become yet another opportunity for us to measure, analyse and optimise our lives using cold, hard data. Continue reading...

Small-frame Windows 11 machine has good keyboard, trackpad, slick design and better performanceMicrosoft’s second attempt at a lower-cost Surface Laptop is faster, quieter and cheaper than its predecessor, while keeping all its good features.The Surface Laptop Go 2 starts at £529 ($599/A$1,099) and costs £20-£170 less than the first iteration depending on version. The starting model has been upgraded with modern components making it much more tempting, too, although it is still mid-range priced rather than a truly budget laptop.Screen: 12.4in LCD 1536 x 1024 (148 PPI)Processor: quad-core Intel Core i5-1135G7 (11th generation)RAM: 4 or 8GBStorage: 128GB or 256GB SSDGraphics: Intel Iris XeOperating system: Windows 11 HomeCamera: 720P front-facingConnectivity: wifi 6 (ax), Bluetooth 5.1, USB-A, USB-C, headphones, Surface Connect, fingerprint sensorDimensions: 278.18 x 205.67 x 15.69 mmWeight: 1,127g Continue reading...

Disclosure of subpoenas for board members by blank cheque firm Digital World is latest blow to Donald Trump’s social media plansA ​​US federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to the board members of the company merging with Donald Trump’s social media company, Truth Social.The disclosure, made on Monday by the blank cheque company Digital World Acquisition Corporation, is the latest blow to Trump’s plans to take Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the creator of Truth Social, public. Continue reading...

FCA could bar Kristo Käärmann from senior role after claim he failed to pay £720,000 in tax

They are essential tools but can be expensive. From trade-ins to refurb there are ways to get a better dealPrices for the same model regularly fluctuate between retailers. While manufacturers typically only sell their phones at the recommended retail price, third-party retailers can discount them depending on stock levels and age, so shop around and check multiple price comparison tools such as Google Shopping, Kelkoo, PriceRunner or Price Spy. Continue reading...

Funding for Kinder World mobile app said to be largest venture capital seed investment for game studio founded by women in Australia

The founder of Binance, the world’s largest digital currency exchange, is on a mission to talk to governments and regulators even as investors retreatChangpeng Zhao does not like ambiguous words. Which is just as well: the crypto industry, in which he is a leading figure, is in turmoil and crying out for clarity.The 45-year-old founder and chief executive of Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, meets the Observer in an upmarket London hotel after one of the most tumultuous weeks in the short history of digital money. Continue reading...

The Chinese tech giant is taking surveillance capitalism to a new level. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for ZuckerbergQuestion: what do men and Excel have in common?

Private information collected and retained by companies could be weaponized to prosecute abortion seekers and providersAfter the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade on Friday, calls increased for tech companies to take a stand about the use of online data to incriminate individuals seeking or providing abortion services.Abortion and civil rights advocates have warned that there are few federal regulations on what information is collected and retained by tech firms, making it easy for law enforcement officials to access incriminating data on location, internet searches and communication history. Continue reading...

The New York photographer on the mystery deli worker daydreaming while she workedMelissa Breyer has never met the woman she shot in the window of a Brooklyn deli on her morning run, but she considers the image something of a self-portrait. “When I first moved to New York,” she says, “I was an artist who was also working in a restaurant to make ends meet. There’s so much of that here: young women waiting for their lucky break. She depicted that time – of daydreaming and reverie, a moment of limbo before the next big thing – so beautifully.”Breyer describes photography as a blend of fiction and nonfiction, and “as much of a storytelling tool as a novel can be. There are so many incredible backstories out there that we never hear about. You could see somebody washing a window and just jog by, as I did. Or you could stop, look, and see this beautiful scene. You could pluck one person out of a crowd and take away that anonymity for a moment.” Continue reading...

Liberty hails decision that prior independent authorisation is needed for people’s communications dataThe security and intelligence services must acquire “prior independent authorisation” to obtain people’s communications data from telecom providers, a civil rights campaign group has said, after it won a high court challenge.Liberty hailed a “landmark victory” and said two judges ruled it was unlawful for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to obtain individuals’ communications data from telecom providers without having prior independent authorisation during criminal investigations. Continue reading...

Consumption down by third since 11 June, with even sharper falls among other cryptocurrency networksThe amount of electricity consumed by the largest cryptocurrency networks has decreased by up to 50% as the “crypto winter” continues to eat at the incomes of “miners” and financial contagion spreads further throughout the sector.The electricity consumption of the bitcoin network has fallen by a third from its high of 11 June, down to an annualised 131 terawatt-hours a year, according to estimates from the crypto analyst Digiconomist. That still equates to the annual consumption of Argentina, with a single conventional bitcoin transaction using the same amount of electricity that a typical US household would use over 50 days. Continue reading...

Global analysis finds increase most sharp among age group, prompting concerns about impact on healthScreen time during the Covid pandemic increased the most among primary schoolchildren, by an extra hour and 20 minutes a day on average, according to the first global review of research.The sharp rise in screen time was associated with poorer diets in children, poor eye health, deteriorating mental health including anxiety, and behavioural problems such as aggression, irritability and increased frequency of temper tantrums, researchers said. Continue reading...

In an NFT world fraught with frauds, few pause to check for fakes: ‘The crypto mindset is they know it’s chaos and bullshit and they don’t care’Snoop Dogg has rapped that “It’s kind of hard being Snoop D-O-double-G”.But apparently not that hard for a Snoop Dogg impersonator who was hired “last minute” by a crypto startup to grab attention at an NFT conference in New York – and ended up fooling just about everyone there. Continue reading...

Report claims Milan-based RCS Lab developed tools to spy on private messages and contacts of targeted devicesAn Italian company’s hacking tools were used to spy on Apple and Android smartphones in Italy and Kazakhstan, Alphabet Inc’s Google said in a new report.Milan-based RCS Lab, whose website claims European law enforcement agencies as clients, developed tools to spy on private messages and contacts of the targeted devices, the report said. Continue reading...

The interests of a significant minority are being neglected as everyday tasks are conducted via smartphones and tabletsOn the eve of this week’s rail strikes, it was reported that industry bosses are planning to phase out paper train tickets and shut almost 1,000 station ticket offices in England. The government says nothing has been decided. But the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has made no secret of his desire to see savings delivered in this way; some stations, Mr Shapps likes to point out, sell only a handful of tickets each week and the vast majority of transactions have moved online.Irrespective of the outcome of the current standoff with the RMT union, the direction of travel is clear. In the name of modernisation and cost-cutting, station ticket offices are likely to follow many high street bank branches and rural post offices into the vaults of sepia-tinted memory. For those of us who have grown used to the advantages of organising travel via a smartphone, there will be little to mourn. But for people without online access or skills – who tend to be older, poorer and more vulnerable – another small social barrier will have been erected. Continue reading...

Verification in US will require youngsters to provide video or find three adults to vouch for themInstagram will start testing strong age verification for the first time, requiring users who try to change their age from under-18 to over-18 to either upload a video selfie for automatic age verification, or find three adults to vouch for them.The changes, which are initially rolling out in the US, will apply only to users who have already indicated they are under 18, but try to edit their date of birth to gain access to age-restricted features. Continue reading...

Technology promises ability to ‘make the memories last’ by mimicking the voice of anyone it hearsAmazon plans to let people turn their dead loved ones’ voices into digital assistants, with the company promising the ability to “make the memories last”.The company is developing technology that will allow its Alexa digital assistant to mimic the voice of anyone it hears from less than a minute of provided audio, Rohit Prasad, its senior vice-president and head scientist, said on Wednesday. He added that during the coronavirus paramedic “so many of us have lost someone we love”. Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: The comedian goes down the rabbit hole of petty local disputes in Welcome to the Neighbourhood. Plus: five podcasts that will make you smarter

Federal court approves settlement between Australia’s competition watchdog and tech company over phones marketed as water-resistant