Technology | The Guardian

Company acknowledges ‘passive’ consumption of material can make people ‘feel worse’ but argues more engagement could improve wellbeingFacebook has acknowledged that social media use can be bad for users’ mental health, a sign the company is feeling pressure from a growing chorus of critics raising alarms about the platform’s effect on society.Researchers for the social network admitted in a blogpost Friday that studies have found that spending time on Facebook “passively consuming information” can leave people “feeling worse”, but also argued that part of the solution is to engage and interact more with people on the platform. Continue reading...

FCA to escalate scrutiny of initial coin offerings in currencies such as bitcoin, increasingly used by startupsThe City regulator is intensifying its scrutiny of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to establish if new rules are needed for the fast-growing market.Celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Floyd Mayweather and Harry Redknapp have associated themselves with ICOs, which can be used to raise money for internet startups. Hilton, though, is reported to have deleted some of her tweets. Continue reading...

All pensioners should be offered a subsidised tablet and be taught how to use it, says 83-year-old Joan Caesar, who uses hers to Skype, chat and shop onlineThe way I assuage loneliness, as a housebound 83-year-old living alone, is to use my Samsung tablet to play Scrabble and chat to or Skype people online, to shop online so that I can look forward to deliveries and exchange pleasantries with postmen or couriers (Loneliness is ‘a giant evil’ – Cox commission, 11 December; Letters, 14 December). I also employ a cleaner and a gardener alternately for two hours a fortnight at £25 each so that I have someone to make tea for and chat to once a week.In my opinion all pensioners should be offered, via their doctor, a subsidised tablet upon retirement and be taught how to use one. They are an invaluable way of entertaining oneself and of keeping in touch with friends and relatives.

Ofcom report finds 4% of UK properties cannot access speeds of at least 10Mbps deemed necessary for modern internet useMore than 1m “forgotten homes” across the UK are unable to get sufficiently fast broadband to meet a typical family’s needs, from watching Netflix to browsing YouTube.Ofcom, the communications regulator, said 4% of UK homes and offices, about 1.1m properties, could not access broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps. Continue reading...

Sophisticated malware halts operations at power station in unprecedented attack which experts believe was state-sponsoredIn what experts are calling a watershed moment, hackers have infiltrated the critical safety systems for industrial control units used in nuclear, oil and gas plants, halting operations at at least one facility.The attackers, who are believed to be state-sponsored, targeted the Triconex industrial safety technology made by Schneider Electric SE, according to security firm FireEye and Schneider, who disclosed the incident on Thursday. Continue reading...

GMO Internet will pay portion of salaries in the cryptocurrency – whose prices have recently surged – from FebruaryA Japanese company will start paying part of its employees’ salaries in Bitcoin, as it aims to gain better understanding of the virtual currency, a spokeswoman has said.GMO Internet, which operates a range of web-related businesses including finance, online advertising and internet infrastructure, will start paying up to 100,000 yen (£660/$890) monthly by Bitcoin to its employees in Japan from February next year. Continue reading...

New figures show that fewer UK writers earn enough to live on, as ACE blames falling sales of literary fiction on the recession and the rise of smartphonesThe image of the impoverished writer scratching out their masterwork in a freezing garret remains as true today as it was a century ago, according to a new report commissioned by Arts Council England (ACE), which revealed that collapsing sales, book prices and advances mean few can support themselves through writing alone.The report found that print sales of literary fiction are significantly below where they stood in the mid-noughties and that the price of the average literary fiction book has fallen in real terms in the last 15 years. Continue reading...

In the glow of your phone screen you can be vulnerable, tender and show your best side in a way you can’t on an early dateNot so many years ago I had a summer romance that was different from other summer romances.We met at a party, then he returned overseas and we spent several months locked in a dopamine-frenzied storm of messages. Sometimes hundreds a day, not respecting timezones or the real-life fragility of our connection. Continue reading...

The desktop computer is aimed at Apple-using creative professionals, and the top-spec machine costs £12,279Apple has a very expensive last-minute Christmas present for you. The just released iMac Pro is the company’s “most powerful Mac ever” – and the most expensive, starting at £4,899.

Social media platform listed just six tweets to UK parliamentary committee looking into claims that Russia meddled in referendum campaignTwitter has been attacked for its “completely inadequate” response to a parliamentary committee seeking answers about Russian misinformation operations during the EU referendum.In its submission, sent on Wednesday, the company listed just six Russian tweets that were promoted as paid advertisements on its platform during the referendum period. Continue reading...

Alan’s Gmail inbox needs tidying up, and it’s easy to sort emails and save space using built-in search commands. But not before he makes a back upIs there an easy way of doing mass deletes in Gmail? I’ve rather let the inbox grow, and I would like to trim it. Manual deletion would take forever. Yes, I know I should have archived important, useful emails. Slapped wrists! AlanYou may be surprised at how easy it is to delete thousands of Gmail messages with just a couple of clicks. The tricky bit is deleting the emails you don’t want while keeping the ones you do. Computers are stupid and do what you tell them to do, which may not be what you intended. This is why you should take a backup before embarking on an email delete-fest, but I’ll discuss that later.

The tech firm’s new streaming dongle condenses what was great about the previous generation into a smaller, cheaper packageThe Amazon Fire TV with 4K HDR is arguably the easiest and best way to play ultra HD content on your TV, condensing what was great about the previous generation into a smaller, cheaper package.The new Fire TV is no longer a set-top box – instead it’s more like the cheaper Fire TV Stick, hanging off a built-in flexible HDMI cable. It means the new Fire TV can be inserted straight into the back of a TV, hidden from view, and likely powered straight from the TV’s USB port. Continue reading...

Bryan Johnson’s company, Kernel, aims to improve mental function and treat disorders by creating a brain interfaceBryan Johnson isn’t short of ambition. The founder and CEO of neuroscience company Kernel wants “to expand the bounds of human intelligence”. He is planning to do this with neuroprosthetics; brain augmentations that can improve mental function and treat disorders. Put simply, Kernel hopes to place a chip in your brain.It isn’t clear yet exactly how this will work. There’s a lot of excited talk about the possibilities of the technology, but – publicly, at least – Kernel’s output at the moment is an idea. A big idea. Continue reading...

Prosecutors say the three created Mirai ‘botnet’ used in attack and built massive network of infected devices, but were not responsible for attack itself

Some automation brings benefits, says Roger Backhouse, but people need human interaction too; while 13 signatories to a letter say that Christmas is the perfect time to tackle the UK’s loneliness epidemicTwo connected stories in Monday’s Guardian: Tom Watson asks us to “embrace an android” while Rachel Reeves describes society’s sixth giant evil as a “crisis of loneliness”.Replacing people with machines decreases opportunities for social interactions helping many feel integrated. Self-service in shops, libraries, banks and other places means people can go all day without conversation with a “real” person. It is set to worsen, to the detriment of contact and service quality. Continue reading...

Chair of Commons committee says firm has not answered questions put to Mark Zuckerberg about ‘troll army’ activityFacebook has been slammed for failing to do any extra work in its investigation into Russian influence on the EU referendum, after the company’s inquiry found just $0.97 (£0.72) of ad spending originating from the notorious Russian “troll army”.Damian Collins MP, the chair of the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, said the company’s initial response to the Electoral Commission “does not answer the questions that I put to Mark Zuckerberg. Continue reading...

Mounting evidence suggests smartphones cause disrupted sleep, depression and higher rates of attempted suicide. Action is surely requiredImagine the latest must-have item for kids was addictive and had a proven link with disrupted sleep, depression, low self-esteem and attempted suicide. You certainly wouldn’t buy one for your own offspring, but you might think banning it altogether was a step too far. That is, until your child comes home from school begging to have one, just like their friends.Related: Enough with the moral panic over smartphones. The kids are all right | Catharine Lumby Continue reading...

Popular sites Openload, Streamango, Rapidvideo and OnlineVideoConverter allegedly force users to mine Monero cryptocurrency, report saysEach month almost one billion visitors to four popular video sites are being unwittingly forced to mine cryptocurrency, according to a report on the practice of so called cryptojacking.The video sites Openload, Streamango, Rapidvideo and OnlineVideoConverter are allegedly loading mining software on to visitors’ computers, making them generate tokens for the bitcoin-like cryptocurrency Monero, according to security firm Adguard. Continue reading...

I have never dealt with Equifax and don’t have a mortgage, credit card or loanI recently received a letter from Equifax, the credit ratings agency, telling me that my personal details had been hacked in May. I do not have a direct relationship with Equifax and do not have a mortgage, do not use a credit card and have no loans. Equifax couldn’t tell me any more. What can I do to protect myself. I have already taken out Cifas fraud protection. NP, LondonThe most likely outcome is that Equifax carried out a credit check when you took on a mobile phone contract. Continue reading...

Mario ran amok in New Donk City, a cat dropped out of college, and Angel Carter haunted What Remains of Edith Finch. But it was the mighty Zelda who took video gaming – and cooking – to a new dimension Continue reading...

Company says it will book advertising revenue in countries where it is earned instead of through Dublin headquartersFacebook has said it will start booking advertising revenue in countries where it is earned instead of re-routing it via Ireland, although the move is unlikely to result in it paying much more tax.

Amazon’s virtual assistant is winding up the US far-right with her answers to questions on feminism and the Black Lives Matter movementName: Alexa.Age: Three. Continue reading...

With prices starting at £1,500, this isn’t a casual purchase – but with its detachable screen, this could be the best Windows 10 power-user laptop goingThe first generation Surface Book was a feat of engineering that took Microsoft’s Surface tablet PC and turned it on its head, making it a laptop first and a tablet second. The Surface Book 2 refines a few things, adds much more power and finally adopts USB-C.If you’re primarily a laptop user, who occasionally wants to take just the screen with you and needs some brawn for your processing duties, the Surface Book 2 is the machine for you. But getting your head around what the machine can do is the first challenge. Continue reading...

Price tag would be less than half the $1bn music identifying app was last valued at when it tapped investors in 2015Apple has bought Shazam, a London-based app that allows smartphone users to identify music, for a reported $400m (£300m).

First contract on a regulated exchange is seen as step towards legitimacy for the cryptocurrency but volume traded is tinyBitcoin has taken a step toward legitimacy with the launch of a product on a Chicago exchange that allows investors to take bets on its price in the future.The new contract on the Chicago Board Options Exchange came as the digital currency jumped another 10%, sparking fresh warnings of a speculative bubble after last week’s 40% climb in price. Continue reading...

Regretting not spending a few hundred quid on bitcoin five years ago? Get ahead of the speculators by spending thousands of dollars on a imaginary cat or the Paris Hilton-backed LydianCoinIf you are worried you’ve missed out on making millions by betting on bitcoin, don’t worry: there will be plenty more bizarre, borderline-incomprehensible digital bubbles in the future, and their value is only going to go up (until it all comes crashing down, that is). Here are five assets each competing to be the next bitcoin. Continue reading...

Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee and other industry luminaries tell US lawmakers proposal to end safeguards is based on misunderstanding of internetMore than 20 internet pioneers and leaders including the “father of the internet”, Vint Cerf; the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee; and the Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak have urged the FCC to cancel its vote to repeal net neutrality, describing the plan as “based on a flawed and factually inaccurate” understanding of how the internet works.“The FCC’s rushed and technically incorrect proposed order to repeal net neutrality protections without any replacement is an imminent threat to the internet we worked so hard to create. It should be stopped,” said the technology luminaries in an open letter to lawmakers with oversight of the Federal Communications Commission on Monday. Continue reading...

Contracts rise from $15,460 to $16,000 in the first hours of trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)The first-ever bitcoin future began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major US exchange.The futures contract that expires in January rose from $15,460 to $16,000 in its first hours of trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Continue reading...

Sound-controlled vibrators, 3D-printed clitorises and ‘Michael Gove’ as a safe word: coders and inventors try to find the future of sex in south LondonTwelve years of Catholic school prepares you for a lot of weird things, but walking into a church to find 50 people testing vibrators on each other’s noses, strapping each other into inflatable hug machines and flinging around bits of deconstructed sex toys under a huge stained-glass window that reads THOU ART THE KING OF GLORY O CHRIST is not one of them.I am at Goldsmiths, University of London, in the church of what used to be St James Hatcham but was transformed, some years ago, into an arts “hub”. Hacksmiths, the student-run tech society at the university, runs “hackathons” – invention marathons – where over the course of three days, attendees of varying skills and backgrounds camp out on air beds and eat pizza while brainstorming and building machines. For this event, the theme was sex technology. Continue reading...

An immersive, interactive exploration of life on Earth and Nintendo’s resurgent flights of escapism were among the highlights of the gaming year

Renault’s fully revamped large SUV looks handsome and drives well… But the lack of seven seats could cost it dearPrice: from £27,500

Lorin LaFave wants story of her son’s death by an online predator to highlight the threat posed to young male gamersThe mother of a 14-year-old boy murdered by an online predator is working with police on a film about his killing as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the sexual exploitation of boys.Lorin LaFave, the mother of Breck Bednar, who was murdered in 2014 after being groomed online, is working with several police forces on the film. It will be modelled on Kayleigh’s Love Story, a film made by Leicestershire police about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was killed after being groomed by a man who sent her an unsolicited Facebook message. Made with the support of the victim’s family, Kayleigh’s Love Story has been widely screened at local schools and viewed by an estimated 35 million people online. Continue reading...

Amid warnings of bubbles and infernos, currency hits new high of $16,660, crashes, then recovers to $15,350 as London closedBitcoin rounded off a week of frenzied investor speculation with a day of whipsaw trading that knocked nearly 20% off its value at one point, but still left the cryptocurrency changing hands at more than $15,000 (£11,000).The currency, which was likened to Dante’s Inferno by one senior banker this week, rocketed to a new high of $16,660 overnight before slumping to $13,482 by midday on Friday. As the London markets were closing, bitcoin had recovered some of its losses to trade at $15,350 – having started the week at $10,875 and the year at $966. Continue reading...

Facing potential Lords defeat, government announces it will back data protection bill amendment to safeguard children’s privacyWebsites and apps will be subject to a tough new code of practice to protect children’s privacy online following a cross-party campaign in the House of Lords to prevent young people’s internet activity being monitored.Facing a potential defeat by peers, the government has announced it will back a new amendment to the data protection bill, derived from one authored by the film director and cross-bench peer Beeban Kidron, which has been backed by Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems. Continue reading...

Network said Trump had received email that offered hacked WikiLeaks files – but CNN got date wrong and later admitted material was already in public sphereCNN was forced to climb down from a report Friday that an encryption key allowing access to hacked content had been emailed to Donald Trump and aides two months before the presidential election.Such a key had been emailed, the cable network said in a corrected report, but the material it gave access to was already in the public sphere, and not previously unseen as an initial CNN report suggested. Continue reading...

Security flaw in latest iPhone and iPad iOS 11.2 software meant hackers could potentially gain remote control of lights, cameras and locks in smart homesApple has been forced to fix a security hole within its HomeKit smart home system that could have allowed hackers to unlock users’ smart locks or other devices.The bug within iOS 11.2 permitted unauthorised remote control of HomeKit-enabled devices. Such devices include smart lights, plugs and other gadgets, but also includes smart locks and garage door openers. Continue reading...

Taxi-hailing firm will be allowed to continue operating while it appeals against decision which it says is down to an administrative errorSheffield city council has suspended Uber’s licence in what the company has insisted is an “administrative error”.The ride-hailing company can still operate in the city until 18 December and, if it appeals against the council’s decision, can operate after that date until the appeal is heard. Uber has said it will appeal so it can “continue to serve people in Sheffield”. Continue reading...

In these gloriously skewed shorts, comedians Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen film unsuspecting people, imagine their conversations and add hilarious voiceoversWhat is it? A sketch comedy micro-series using secretly filmed footage of the public.Why you’ll love it: These tiny, joyful, stupid snippets of comic tapas are made by comedians Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen, known jointly as The Pin. After three series of their highly inventive and critically admired Radio 4 show, they have moved into a new medium. But the straightforward sketch show, trotting out and repeating the same characters and situations is not for them. Continue reading...

The usual evolution of English has been accelerated online, leading to a less formal – but arguably more expressive – language than the one we use IRL. So use those emojis wisely …English has always evolved – that’s what it means to be a living language – and now the internet plays a pivotal role in driving this evolution. It’s where we talk most freely and naturally, and where we generally pay little heed to whether or not our grammar is “correct”.Should we be concerned that, as a consequence, English is deteriorating? Is it changing at such a fast pace that older generations can’t keep up? Not quite. At a talk in 2013, linguist David Crystal, author of Internet Linguistics, said: “The vast majority of English is exactly the same today as it was 20 years ago.” And his collected data indicated that even e-communication isn’t wildly different: “Ninety per cent or so of the language you use in a text is standard English, or at least your local dialect.” Continue reading...

Craig wants to buy his game-playing son a laptop for up to £500, while other readers want cheaper machinesCould you provide an update to your previous articles on the system requirements for Minecraft? I would love a recommendation on a laptop for my 10-year-old son. I have a £500 budget, and I would have no problem with a refurbished device. CraigThis is a frequently-asked question, and similar queries have come from Jo (seven-year-old son, £450 budget), Lauren (13-year-old son), Ronda (12-year-old daughter), and Natalie (11-year-old son, £200 to £250 budget). I answered much the same question in December last year (What’s the best cheap laptop for running Minecraft?), in December 2015 (What’s the best laptop for running Minecraft?) and earlier. The principles have not changed, so you may still find them useful. However, the products change, which is why the question keeps coming up. Continue reading...

The techno-sage and Silicon Valley insider sees VR as emancipatory and liberating but what does ‘shared lucid dreaming’ actually mean?I experienced virtual reality for the first time the other day, at a training workshop for university lecturers. When I donned the Oculus Rift – a sleek plastic headset with handheld controls – I was presented with a desk on which sat some cartoonishly rendered objects: a ball, a toy car, a ray gun. I picked up the gun and fired off a few shots. I rolled the ball off the table. Then the lenses in the goggles misted up and I grew bored.I couldn’t see how virtual reality was supposed to help with the teaching of literature, but the techno-apparatchiks who were our guides for the day assured me that this was the future of pedagogy (a word they liked). “Just imagine,” they said, “one day your students won’t just be able to read books: they’ll experience what it’s like to be in them.” Continue reading...

Mining marketplace NiceHash suspends operations while it co-operates with authorities over ‘professional attack’, urging users to change passwordsNearly $64m in bitcoin has been stolen by hackers who broke into Slovenian-based bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash.The marketplace suspended operations on Thursday while it investigated the breach, saying it was working with law enforcement as “a matter of urgency” while urging users to change their passwords. Continue reading...

European commission tells Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter and others that legislation is being considered if self-regulation continues to failThe European Commission has warned Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter and other internet technology companies that they must do more to stem the spread of extremist content or face legislation.Growing pressure from European governments has meant progress has been made by companies in significantly boosting their resources dedicated to help take down extremist content as quickly as possible. Continue reading...

Google’s newest computer offering is an exquisite piece of hardware running a limited but improving operating system. Is that enough for £999?With the Pixelbook, Google is asking whether a Chromebook with high-end laptop features, which runs Android apps and can become a tablet by folding in two, can really be worth £999.

Magazine dubbed ‘serial misinformer’ becomes first explicitly partisan organization to aid in task, fueling concerns over rightwing influence at siteA conservative news organization has been approved to partner with Facebook to fact-check false news, drawing criticisms that the social media company is caving to rightwing pressures and collaborating with a publication that has previously spread propaganda.The Weekly Standard, a conservative opinion magazine, said it is joining a fact-checking initiative that Facebook launched last year aimed at debunking fake news on the site with the help of outside journalists. The Weekly Standard will be the first right-leaning news organization and explicitly partisan group to do fact-checks for Facebook, prompting backlash from progressive organizations, who have argued that the magazine has a history of publishing questionable content. Continue reading...

The Guardian’s goal on Instagram is to help people understand the world they’re in and inspire them to create a better one. We cover fake news, gender equality, the refugee crisis and threats to our planet such as climate change and air pollution, and many more topics. We work with reporters, designers and multimedia producers to visualise the news in accessible and imaginative ways. Our Instagram reporting provides context and meaning and gives you the information you need to take action and feel hopeful.Our efforts have been working; over the past 12 months, 300,000 new followers have joined us and we now have the largest Instagram audience for a UK news publication. Continue reading...

Public spat between two of world’s biggest tech companies intensifies as Google uses access to video platform as leverage to force retailer to sell its productsGoogle is using YouTube as leverage over Amazon to try and force the world’s largest retailer to sell its Home smart speakers, Chromecasts and Nest products.Google has pulled official support for YouTube from Amazon’s Echo Show and Fire TV devices, meaning that owners can no longer access the video site through a YouTube app. Continue reading...