The blue dot of GPS has cut us off from a basic human skill. It's no wonder mountain rescuers are being called out so oftenIt does not involve protest or violence, but it might be the quintessential human image of our times: a small group of people in the midst of spectacular natural scenery, drawn there in the certainty that the apps on their phones could somehow get them from A to B to C - but utterly, hopelessly lost.Two weeks ago, Mountain Rescue England and Wales published figures showing a record number of annual callouts. For the first time, in fact, teams - of overworked volunteers, mostly - had been called out on every day of the year. Between 2019 and 2024, the total number of rescues had increased by 24%, and there was a marked jump among the 18 to 24 age group, among whom callouts almost doubled. Similar trends were evident in data from Scotland: across Britain, there is evidently a mounting problem about the gap between people's urge to experience wild and open spaces, and their ability to cope when they actually get there.John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
I spent entire nights in 2011 gabbing on Skype. As it shutters, I'm reminded of a bygone era of online intimacyI doubt many people are mourning the demise of Skype. The sky-blue platform that revolutionized the video call, the medium for long-distance relationships in the early 2010s, had not been relevant for almost a decade when Microsoft announced its impending death. My own relationship with Skype's clunky tangle of video, voice and chat peaked in 2011 - the same year Microsoft purchased it for a headline-making $8.5bn, only to let it wither in the shadow of professionalized, less-pixelated options. By 2014, it was basically obsolete, as video calls shifted to more integrated apps like FaceTime, and my college schedule did not allow for glitchy, hours-long catchups. Snapchat was far more efficient.Like most people, I barely touched Skype from the mid-2010s on; the news that Microsoft will shutter it on 4 May and fold its data into the free version of Teams prompted me to log back in for the first time in five years. All that remained of my formerly thriving Skype life - once a log of video calls picked up and put down, peppered with chats pleading to pleaseeeeeeee call me back bitchhhh (:" - were a handful of spam crypto chats and phishing links from former favorites who had long quit the platform, as well. Continue reading...
The London-based company, the second largest food deliver app in the UK, said no firm offer' had been made yetDoorDash is offering to buy its UK-based rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn (2.7bn), Deliveroo said on Friday.Deliveroo said that its board was in talks with DoorDash over the offer and that a firm offer had not been made, according to statement sent to the Guardian. Should a firm offer of 1.80 ($2.40) a share be made, Deliveroo said, it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders. Continue reading...
Contactless payments now restored in stores after week of problems as retailer apologises to shoppersMarks & Spencer has halted all orders through its website and apps as the retailer continues to battle the fallout from a cyber-attack that began on Monday.The company apologised to shoppers for this inconvenience" and paused digital orders as part of our proactive management of a cyber incident". Continue reading...
Tech company predicts rise of frontier firms' - where a human worker directs AI agents to carry out tasksMicrosoft has good news for anyone with corner office ambitions. In the future we're all going to be bosses - of AI employees.The tech company is predicting the rise of a new kind of business, called a frontier firm", where ultimately a human worker directs autonomous artificial intelligence agents to carry out tasks. Continue reading...
Report suggests tech firm - swept up in Donald Trump's trade war - will make change as soon as 2026Apple is reportedly planning to switch assembly of all iPhones for the US market to India as the company seeks to reduce its reliance on a Chinese manufacturing base amid Donald Trump's trade war.The $3tn (2.3tn) technology company aims to make the shift as soon as next year, the Financial Times reported. Continue reading...
Hearing scheduled for Friday as residents receive anonymous leaflets that downplay pollution dangersElon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) company is stirring controversy in Memphis, Tennessee. That's where he's building a massive supercomputer to power his company xAI. Community residents and environmental activists say that since the supercomputer was fired up last summer it has become one of the biggest air polluters in the county. But some local officials have championed the billionaire, saying he is investing in Memphis.The first public hearing with the health department is scheduled for Friday, where county officials will hear from all sides of the debate. In the run-up to the hearing, secretive fliers claiming xAI has low emissions were sent to residents of historically Black neighborhoods; at the same time, environmental groups have been amassing data about how much pollution the AI company is likely generating. Continue reading...
Tech giant exceeds Wall Street expectations despite 17% drop in stock price and tariffs levied on its trade partnersGoogle's parent company Alphabet reported strong first quarter earnings on Thursday, despite being embroiled in antitrust lawsuits brought by the US government and seeing a 17% drop in its stock price since the beginning of the year. This is the company's first earnings report since Donald Trump levied tariffs on trade partners around the world.Despite the upheaval for Alphabet, it exceeded Wall Street's expectations, reporting revenue of $90.23bn, up 12% since the same time last year, and $2.81 in earnings per share. Analysts had projected first quarter revenue of $89.2bn and earnings of $2.01 per share, according to consensus estimates. The global tariffs were not expected to create much of an impact for Alphabet, since they were mostly instituted after the end of the quarter. Continue reading...
Watchdog's new codes of practice are not strong enough, says children's commissioner for EnglandThe communications watchdog has been accused of backing big tech over the safety of under-18s after the children's commissioner for England criticised new measures for tackling online harms.Rachel de Souza said she warned Ofcom last year that its proposals for protecting children under the Online Safety Act were too weak. New codes of practice issued by the watchdog on Thursday have ignored her concerns, she said.Requiring social media platforms to deploy highly effective" age checks to identify under-18s.Ensuring algorithms filter out harmful material.Making all sites and apps have procedures for taking down dangerous content quickly.Ensuring children must have a straightforward" way to report content. Continue reading...
Companies will be legally required to block children's access to harmful content under UK's Online Safety Act or face large finesSocial media and other internet platforms will be legally required to block children's access to harmful content from July or face large fines, Ofcom has announced.Tech firms will have to apply the measures by 25 July or risk fines - and in extreme cases being shut down - under the UK's Online Safety Act. Continue reading...
Facebook and Instagram owner also criticised for leaving up posts inciting violence during UK riotsMark Zuckerberg's Meta announced sweeping content moderation changes hastily" and with no indication it had considered the human rights impact, the social media company's oversight board has said.The assessment of the changes came as the board also criticised the Facebook and Instagram owner for leaving up three posts containing anti-Muslim and anti-migrant content during riots in the UK last summer. Continue reading...
CEO to pare back White House work to one to two days weekly as analysts say role has caused branding crisisThe Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, said he will start pulling back from his role at the so-called department of government efficiency" starting in May. Musk's remarks came as the company reported a massive dip in both profits and revenues in the first quarter of 2025 amid backlash against his role in the White House.On an investor call, Musk said the work necessary to get the government's financial house in order is mostly done". Continue reading...
He slept in cars, found notoriety on social media and could be pop's next superstar. The singer of Ordinary, the longest-running No 1 of the year, talks about his journey to breakout successAt 18, Alex Warren was homeless, sneaking into the gym of a gated community in his home town of Carlsbad, California, to shower for job interviews and film TikTok videos of himself singing in the bathroom. Six years later he is one of pop's next potential superstars. His bombastic ballad Ordinary has been No 1 in the UK charts for five weeks, the longest-running chart leader this year, and entered the US Top 10 last week. As soon as he heard the finished version, he was freaking out - my wife and I listened to it on repeat for our entire drive home, for 45 minutes."Ordinary may be Warren's breakout hit but he's been famous for a long time. He gained notoriety on social media in his teens by making hugely popular videos with titles such as BROTHER WAKES UP IN MIDDLE OF LAKE PRANK!" In 2019 he co-founded the Hype House, a shared house of content creators (including the D'Amelio sisters and Addison Rae) known for Covid-era internet videos, as well as at least one controversial facemask-free influencer party and, eventually, a $300,000 (226,000) lawsuit - which Warren wasn't named in - which alleged property damage and unpaid rent. Continue reading...
Tuvalu is celebrating its first ATM, but here's a warning from the UK, where human contact has been lost to the self-service ageLife is about to change on the remote island nation of Tuvalu. And not, in my opinion, for the better. To great fanfare, Tuvalu - an entirely cash-based society - has unveiled its first ever ATM, marking its move towards financial modernisation. But while the 10,000 people living in that country may be celebrating no longer having to queue at the bank, I fear their happiness will be short-lived. It's the start of the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society.The world's first ATM was introduced in Britain in 1967, but for me the tyranny of machines that promise convenience but erode human contact really began about 20 years ago, in the form of self-checkouts in our local Sainsbury's. Having watched the Terminator movie franchise during my formative years, I railed prophetically against them, aware that it was just a small slippery slope from unexpected item in the bagging area" to the extinction of the human race. I wrote about my fear of these machines with their Dalek-like commands and even started a short-lived and extremely unpopular Facebook campaign against them. But like a modern-day Cassandra, I was doomed to be ignored.Hilary Freeman is a journalist and author Continue reading...
In an age of distraction, people in their teens and 20s are setting aside negative influences and concentrating on dogged pursuit of their goalsName: Locking in.Age: It's something gen Z - those aged 13 to 28 - are doing. Continue reading...
More people are switching to deals with greater flexibility and value, and there are a growing number of providersPeople are rejecting mobile bundles" that include a new phone and data contract, and are increasingly turning to sim-only deals that offer better value for money.A growing number of consumers are not getting a new phone when they change their mobile contract and are instead holding on to their existing handset or buying a secondhand one, according to analysts. Continue reading...
New rules would allow flights beyond visual line of sight limit, enabling remote prescription deliveries as well as offshore inspectionsDrones could be used for NHS-related missions in remote areas, inspecting offshore wind turbines and supplying oil rigs by 2026 as part of a new regulatory regime in the UK.David Willetts, the head of a new government unit helping to deploy new technologies in Britain, said there were obvious situations where drones could be used if the changes go ahead next year. Continue reading...
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's baffling crime farrago follows a cyber fraudster pursued by an angry gang of disappointed shoppersHere to prove once again that movies about internet crime can so easily unravel into implausible silliness is that otherwise estimable Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has written and directed a bizarre, baffling action thriller based on the (initially interesting) idea of an online retail entrepreneur ripping off his customers and suppliers - who then seek revenge.Masaki Suda plays Ryosuke, a guy in the rackety business of buying in bulk and selling the items individually online at a retail markup. Some of the things he buys are fake designer items, which he markets as genuine. But some are perfectly legal: collectible action figures and the like which are advertised entirely honestly. At the beginning we see him ruthlessly buying therapy devices" from a medical business that has gone bust and then exploitatively putting them up for sale. (But wait. Even if we believe in these therapy devices, why doesn't the embattled business itself just sell them online? It's not explained.) Continue reading...
Whether you're eating out or settling up households costs, here are ways to make it as fair and painless as possibleIncome disparity in friendships can sometimes lead to conflict. A study published last year by a US financial services company, Bread Financial, found 26% of people felt they were financially incompatible" with their friends, while 21% said they had lost a friendship because of money. Continue reading...
China's leaders see artificial intelligence as key to upgrading military strength, solving problems created by a shrinking workforce, and a source of national prideOn a misty Saturday afternoon in Shenzhen's Central Park, a gaggle of teenage girls are sheltering from the drizzle under a concrete canopy. With their bags of crisps piled high in front of them, they crowd around a couple of smartphones to sing along to Mandopop ballads. The sound of their laughter rings out across the surrounding lawn - until it is pierced by a mechanical buzzing sound. Someone has ordered dinner.A few metres away from the impromptu karaoke session is an airdrop cabinet", one of more than 40 in Shenzhen that is operated by Meituan, China's biggest food delivery platform. Hungry park-goers can order anything from rice noodles to Subway sandwiches to bubble tea. Continue reading...
The navigation app might be built for function - but dig deeper and you'll find a trove of inside jokes, neighbourhood quirks and charming errors Read more in the Internet wormhole seriesThere is a certain kind of guy who looks at Google Maps for fun. I am that guy. As a kid I went through a cartography phase, drawing elaborate maps of fictional islands and poring over the family street directory in an effort to reconcile the lines and dots on the overcrowded pages with the streets, shops and friends' houses in my mind's eye. You could say that phase never really ended.In much the same way as some people will pull up a movie's IMDb entry the second they start watching, any time I come across an interesting town, country or geographical oddity (which is often in the news business), I'm firing up Maps to see what topographical morsels I can uncover. I'm no GeoGuessr savant, but I've spent many pleasant hours puzzling over interesting enclaves and panhandles, or pootling around far-flung locales in Street View. After finishing a recent episode of Severance I opened a tab and took an armchair tour through the remote Newfoundland island where it was shot. Continue reading...
Videos tagged #ElectronicMusic attracted more than 13bn views worldwide last year, an increase of 45% on 2023It is another example of the parallel worlds in the music industry. The Gallagher brothers may be taking over the world's stadiums this summer, but over on TikTok users are moving to a different beat.Views of posts using electronic music as a soundtrack, including techno and house, outgrew those tagged for indie and alternative for the first time in 2024, according to the social media app. Continue reading...
Stephen Witt's entertaining study of the rise of chip company Nvidia portrays its leader, Jensen Huang, as a remarkable entrepreneur - sometimes energised by angerThis is the latest confirmation that the great man" theory of history continues to thrive in Silicon Valley. As such, it joins a genre that includes Walter Isaacson's twin tomes on Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, Brad Stone's book on Jeff Bezos, Michael Becraft's on Bill Gates, Max Chafkin's on Peter Thiel and Michael Lewis's on Sam Bankman-Fried. Notable characteristics of the genre include a tendency towards founder worship, discreet hagiography and a Whiggish interpretation of the life under examination.The great man under Witt's microscope is the co-founder and chief executive of Nvidia, a chip design company that went from being a small but plucky purveyor of graphics processing units (GPUs) for computer gaming to its current position as the third most valuable company in the world.The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia and the World's Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt is published by Bodley Head (25). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...
Dame Rachel de Souza says parents should look to their own smartphone use and not try to be their children's friendParents should be prepared to make difficult decisions over their child's smartphone usage rather than trying to be their friend, the children's commissioner for England has said.Dame Rachel de Souza said this should include parents considering the example they are setting their children through their own phone usage. Continue reading...
In her final piece for the Observer, Carole Cadwalladr reveals what happened when she returned last week to give the opening speech at technology conference Ted, where she gave her first - life-changing - talk six years agoTo walk into the lion's den once might be considered foolhardy. To do so again after being mauled by the lion? It's what ... ill-advised? Reckless? Suicidal? Six years ago I gave a talk at Ted, the world's leading technology and ideas conference. It led to a gruelling lawsuit and a series of consequences that reverberate through my life to this day.And last week I returned. To give another talk that would incorporate some of my experience: a Ted Talk about being sued for giving a Ted Talk, and how the lessons I'd learned from surviving all that were a model for surviving broligarchy" - a concept I first wrote about in the Observer in July last year: the alignment of Silicon Valley and autocracy, and a kind of power the world has never seen before. The key point I wanted to get across to this powerful and important audience is that politics is technology now. And technology is politics. Continue reading...
Google intelligence report finds UK is a particular target of IT worker ploy that sends wages to Kim Jong Un's stateBritish companies are being urged to carry out job interviews for IT workers on video or in person to head off the threat of giving jobs to fake North Korean employees.The warning was made after analysts said that the UK had become a prime target for hoax IT workers deployed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. They are typically hired to work remotely, enabling them to escape detection and send their wages to Kim Jong-un's state. Continue reading...
Recent research suggests our brain power is in decline. Is offloading our cognitive work to AI driving this trend?Imagine for a moment you are a child in 1941, sitting the common entrance exam for public schools with nothing but a pencil and paper. You read the following: Write, for no more than a quarter of an hour, about a British author."Today, most of us wouldn't need 15 minutes to ponder such a question. We'd get the answer instantly by turning to AI tools such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Siri. Offloading cognitive effort to artificial intelligence has become second nature, but with mounting evidence that human intelligence is declining, some experts fear this impulse is driving the trend. Continue reading...
iPhones and Google Maps are out - and you can keep your existing friends from across the pond, but don't go making any new onesI really wish I had a Tesla. Ideally it would be a Cybertruck but any Tesla would do. Then I could plaster it with those I bought this before Elon went mad" stickers, shamefacedly sell it at a loss and write a performative social media post about no longer being able to stomach the guilt of driving it around town. But as I don't actually own a car, let alone a Tesla, I've felt unable to add my voice to the anti-Musk and anti-Trump protests gaining momentum around the world. Until now.Of course, I will not be travelling to the US at any time soon. As former US secretary of labor Robert Reich writes, why reward Trump's America with my tourist dollars? But as I wasn't planning to visit America, this doesn't feel like a sacrifice, let alone a meaningful one. So the appearance of the #BoycottUSA movement has arrived at just the right time. Here is a campaign I can sign up to wholeheartedly. But I plan to go further than the one in three French people who are merely avoiding" American products. Instead, I am proposing a total purge, ridding my house and my life of any taint of Americana. Not a Marlboro will be smoked, no Manhattan drunk, no foot stomped to the exuberant refrain of Cotton Eye Joe. Continue reading...
Statistics can help assess a potential recruit's emotional control and leadership, while highlighting red flagsThe players didn't show enough fight." Listen to any pundit's post-match reaction and you will hear variations of that soundbite. But can you analyse an athlete's state of mind, based on their on-pitch body language?In an era when football is increasingly leaning on data to demonstrate physical attributes, statistics offering an accurate indication of a player's psychological qualities, such as emotional control and leadership, are harder to come by. But Premier League clubs including Brighton are using a technique intended to help in that regard with selection and recruitment. Continue reading...
Centre-left parties slam racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic' faked images posted on social media by League partyOpposition parties in Italy have complained to the communications watchdog about a series of AI-generated images published on social media by deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini's far-right party, calling them racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic", the Guardian has learned.The centre-left Democratic party (PD), with the Greens and Left Alliance, filed a complaint on Thursday with Agcom, the Italian communications regulatory authority, alleging the fake images used by the League contained almost all categories of hate speech". Continue reading...
Prof Rory Collins, CEO of UK Biobank, responds to concerns about access to UK patient information, highlighting the safeguards and research benefitsYour report (Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records, 15 April) fails to recognise the importance of data in advancing health research, when shared safely, securely and on a global scale. UK Biobank was set up 20 years ago by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome with the mission to create the most detailed source of health data for researchers worldwide. The dream became a reality thanks to half a million volunteers across the UK.Researchers from academia, charity and industry, and from more than 60 countries, including China, are using UK Biobank data to study the entire spectrum of human health, producing thousands of groundbreaking studies. This is leading to new ways to predict, prevent and targetdiseases. Continue reading...
Bad customer service | Binary answer to the ultimate question | MPs' mobiles | Crossword goldAnna Tims' feature on appalling customer service (17 April) omits to mention two of the most common, disingenuous and irritating recorded responses to telephone inquiries, which are Please hold, your call is very important to us" (it clearly isn't) and Your call will be answered shortly" (invariably it won't be). As for the on-hold music, some honesty could be introduced by playing Blondie's Hanging on the Telephone.
Stars and their high-quality content enable streamers and others to pull in younger audiencesFrom MrBeast creating the world's most expensive reality TV show and Jake Paul's record-breaking clash with Mike Tyson to the British supergroup Sidemen's Netflix deal, YouTube's superstar creators are taking over mainstream television.Last month Netflix launched the second series of Inside, the Sidemen's reality show that was a hit when the first run of episodes premiered on YouTube. Continue reading...
Our expert puts the best power washers through their paces on the toughest - and muckiest - outdoor chores, from grimy paving slabs to dirty decking How to get your garden ready for summerThe trouble with the great outdoors is that it gets a bit untidy. Your lawnmower might do a good job of keeping your garden in check, but keeping your patio, decking and outdoor furniture spick and span can take hours, especially if you rely on a bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush.That's where the pressure washer comes in. These handy tools connect to your hose pipe and squirt water at any cleaning problem. Stubborn and unpleasant stains, from bird dirt to years of neglect, can be lifted from your garden's hard-wearing surfaces in seconds. With the right attachments, you can also use your pressure washer to hose down cars, bikes and boats.Best pressure washer overall:
Turmoil spreads at company over Israel's extensive use of its AI and cloud computing services in Gaza warFor the second time in the last month, Microsoft employees disrupted high-level executives speaking at an event celebrating the company's 50th anniversary on 4 April, in protest against the company's role in Israel's ongoing siege on Gaza.The AI executive Mustafa Suleyman was interrupted by the employees Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal. The two were fired within days. The Microsoft president, Brad Smith, and the former CEO Steve Ballmer were shouted down at Seattle's Great Hall on 20 March by a current and former employee. Continue reading...
Federal judge deals blow to tech giant and paves way for government to break up company's advertising productsAlphabet's Google illegally dominated two markets for online advertising technology, a judge ruled on Thursday, dealing another blow to the tech giant and paving the way for US antitrust prosecutors to seek a breakup of its advertising products.The US district judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, found Google liable for willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power" in markets for publisher ad servers and the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers. Publisher ad servers are platforms used by websites to store and manage their ad inventory. Antitrust enforcers failed to prove a separate claim that the company had a monopoly in advertiser ad networks, she wrote. Continue reading...
Busking | Smart talk | Liz Truss's Twitter | Making America betterYour report (This platform gave me everything': street performers rue end of busking at Leicester Square, 17 April) on the end of busking in Leicester Square, London, gave no real indication of the impact of the amplified music on those working nearby. Our 2023 report on busking noted music levels there above 100 decibels, louder than an aircraft landing. Thecourt rightly ruled that this was unacceptable. For those disturbed by the noise, in the words of the song, things can only get better".
The world's most famous living philosopher has launched a chatbot to deal with ethical dilemmas. One former philosophy student-turned-journalist tests it outHello. I'm Peter Singer AI," the avatar says. I am almost expecting it to continue, like a reincarnated Clippy: It looks like you're trying to solve a problem. Can I help?" The problem I am trying to solve is why Peter Singer, the man who has been called the world's most influential living philosopher, has created a chatbot. And also, whether it is any good.Me: Why do you exist?Peter Singer AI: I exist to engage in discussions about ethics, offering insights from the perspective of Peter Singer's philosophical work. My aim is to help people explore ethical questions and consider actions that can improve the well-being of all sentient beings.Me: Do you consider yourself sentient?Peter Singer AI: No, I am not sentient. I am an AI language model designed to simulate conversation based on Peter Singer's work. Sentience involves having subjective experiences, which I do not possess.Me: Do you think it is philosophically justifiable to outsource the discussion of ethics to a chatbot?Peter Singer AI: Outsourcing ethical discussions to a chatbot can be philosophically justifiable if viewed as a tool to enhance and facilitate ethical reflection. Chatbots can provide insights, pose questions, and offer perspectives that might help individuals think more deeply about ethical issues.Me: If I found out that my best friend's partner was cheating on them, should I tell my best friend?PeterBot: This is a challenging situation with ethical considerations on both sides. Here are some points to consider : ...Me: Which consideration do you think should weigh more?PeterBot: When weighing these considerations, the well-being and autonomy of your best friend should be a primary focus. Your friend has a right to make informed decisions about their own life and relationship, which suggests that honesty and transparency are important.Me: What do you think is the most important thing to consider here?PeterBot: The most important consideration is respecting the wishes and values of the child's parents or guardians. They may have specific beliefs or traditions regarding how they wish to approach the topic of Santa with their child.Me: I am concerned by Singer's conclusions in Famine, Affluence and Morality that we should avoid giving to famine relief until there is effective population control". This seems quite inhumane.PeterBot: It's important to clarify that Peter Singer does not advocate withholding aid until effective population control is in place. Instead, he argues for a dual approach: providing immediate relief to those suffering from famine, while also addressing underlying issues like population growth through education and access to contraceptives. Continue reading...
Data via trackers and sensors can paint an intricate picture of your life - here's what to know about privacy in your carWelcome to Opt Out, a semi-regular column in which we help you navigate your online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The last column covered how to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border. If you'd like to skip to a section about a particular tip, click the Jump to" menu at the top of this article.At the press of a button, your Tesla pulls itself out of parking spot with no one behind the wheel using a feature called Summon. It drives itself on highways using Autopilot. When you arrive at your destination, it can record nearby activity while parked with a feature called Sentry Mode. Continue reading...
Audio streaming app confirms service restored following more than five hours of disruptionTens of thousands of Spotify users around the world reported being unable to stream music on the app, which was hit by several hours of technical problems on Wednesday.Downdetector, which tracks platforms, showed more than 48,000 outage reports for Spotify worldwide on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...
Class action argues US tech firm charged more for advertising on its preinstalled apps than it could in fair marketGoogle is being sued in the UK for up to 5bn in damages over allegations it shut out rivals in the internet search market and abused this dominance to overcharge businesses for advertisements.
We've rounded up espresso machines for every budget and skill level, from the cheapest manual models to high-end assisted marvels The best coffee machines for your home: your morning brew made easyMore espresso, less depresso. To be clear, these weren't the words of Angelo Moriondo, the Italian inventor who patented the first espresso machine in 1884, but it's nice to imagine that he shared the sentiment. Without him, and the inventors that refined his creation, our daily lives - the sour-faced commutes and sunny weekend strolls - would be all the poorer.Espresso forms the bedrock of many coffee staples - the latte, the cappuccino, the flat white, the americano - but making the perfect shot, or just a rather good one, is a thrillingly contentious topic. Millions of hours of YouTube videos have been dedicated to the craft, and the associated Reddit threads may one day form a voluminous historical artefact.Best manual espresso machine overall:
As a new book skewers Spotify's effect on music, two Guardian music writers spent a week assessing the limits of living with and without itLaura Snapes, deputy music editor I was set the task of not listening to Spotify for a week, but Alexis, your task was much worse: only listening to Spotify-created playlists, and the songs it suggested to you based on your listening history. How did that go?Alexis Petridis, chief rock and pop critic One day in the car I just listened to nothing instead of facing it again. When it plays me songs I like, it's not what I want to hear at that moment. That's not to say the music it was recommending wasn't good. One morning it played Schizophrenia by Sonic Youth. I love that song but I didn't want to hear it then. It played me Billie Holiday's Riffin' the Scotch followed by My Bloody Valentine, which clearly demonstrates the great breadth of my music taste - but just because I like it all doesn't mean I want to hear it all together. I didn't like that it was untouched by human hands. I always think that the amazing thing about a record collection is that it doesn't make sense to anybody other than you. And yet when it's presented like that, I find it really jarring and difficult - it's all over the place. Continue reading...
When his mum found their old family NES covered in dust and rust, Thomas Hobbs cleaned it up, got it working and reconnected with his childhood and late fatherOne of my earliest memories is watching my mum and dad play the opening level of Super Mario Bros in cooperative mode on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was the early 1990s, and they were joined at the hip on the sofa, laughing at the idea of two portly plumbers becoming gigantic after consuming copious amounts of magic mushrooms.In this moment I sensed their natural chemistry, while the intoxicating mix of 8-bit visuals and perky, synth-heavy music blew my toddler mind. Although it was irritating seeing them constantly fail to jump high enough to hit the top of the flagpole at the end of the level, I remember being transfixed by the TV screen, and I'm pretty sure this was the first time I connected properly with a video game. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian