Technology | The Guardian

Online retailers are increasingly using your personal data to decide how much to charge you. And high-street shops are about to get in on the actIn 1861 a shopkeeper in Philadelphia revolutionised the retail industry. John Wanamaker, who opened his department store in a Quaker district of the city, introduced price tags for his goods, along with the high-minded slogan: “If everyone was equal before God, then everyone would be equal before price.” The practice caught on. Up until then high-street retailers had generally operated a market-stall system of haggling on most products. Their best prices might be reserved for their best customers. Or they would weigh up each shopper and make a guess at what they could afford to pay and eventually come to an agreement.Wanamaker’s idea was not all about transparency, however. Fixed pricing changed the relationship between customer and store in fundamental ways. It created the possibilities of price wars, loss leaders, promotional prices and sales. For the first time people were invited to enter stores without the implied obligation to buy anything (until then shops had been more like restaurants; you went in on the understanding that you wouldn’t leave without making a purchase). Now customers could come in and look and wander and perhaps be seduced. Shopping had been invented. Continue reading...

Ghost in the machine: BMW’s wonderfully realised 3-Series iPerformance hybrid puts Martin Love in mind of an old friendPrice: £34,475

Anthony Barrs and Baiyu Chen’s Hyperlane system proposes clusters of self-driving cars zipping past local traffic at 100mph, controlled by a central computerThese days there are so many self-driving cars coming down the pipeline it seems inevitable they’ll soon be stuck in a robot traffic jam – just like the human-piloted cars of today. Well, not if Anthony Barrs and Baiyu Chen get their way.The two graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, have devised a system that would have tightly-packed clusters of autonomous vehicles zipping past local traffic at speeds of more than 100mph, all on existing roadways. They call it Hyperlane, and it works a lot like high-speed toll lanes already do, only with a central computer controlling everything. Continue reading...

It looks as though a super-talented designer were trying to please a millionaire’s 12-year-oldPeople talk about “iconic styling” and I’ve finally worked out what it means: a car that looks like itself, and no other car, and has done for a long time. It must wax and wane, from compliment to insult, the way the popularity of a thing will when it makes not-changing its USP. Certainly, the Mini Clubman has its signature snout, but there is no way to adjudicate on whether it’s chic or twee: that would depend on your mood. The most distinctive of all the Clubman’s idiosyncrasies is that back end, with the barn door-style opening. It’s cute, like a wendy house made of car, but it is the devil to park. There you are, imagining yourself in a miniature vehicle, yet you can’t get into a space you’d have had a shot at in a Passat. And the boot is quite high, so it’s not the easiest fit for anything heavy or bulky.It has the heft and width of a BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, because that’s essentially what it is: some theorise that it’s an entry-level beemer, in a cunning disguise, from a firm that doesn’t want to diminish the big-boy brand with an affordable way in. The evidence against this theory is that it’s not actually much cheaper, and I prefer the notion that it’s for a would-be BMW owner who doesn’t yet want to grow up. Continue reading...

The Russian president says the US needs a ‘pill’ to deal with the allegations that Moscow interfered with last year’s presidential election. Speaking at the St Petersburg economic forum on Friday, Putin compares what he sees as the Clinton campaign’s insistence that ‘the Russians are guilty’ to antisemitism and says ‘they will not end up with anything good’

Bezos, whose wealth has risen by $20bn in five months, could take Bill Gates’s crown within days if Amazon shares keep soaringJust a few dollars more on the Amazon share price and the world will have a new richest man. Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, is on the brink of overtaking Bill Gates to become the wealthiest person on the planet.Bezos, 53, has been having a very good year. His net worth has risen by almost $20bn (£16bn) in the past five months to $85.2bn, putting him just behind Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, who is valued at $89.3bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Continue reading...

Guests with blindness, cerebral palsy, dwarfism and spinal injuries were refused at higher rates, sometimes when homes were advertised as wheelchair accessibleAirbnb hosts routinely reject guests with disabilities, sometimes when they have even advertised their homes as wheelchair accessible, according to a new study that adds to growing concerns about discrimination in the sharing economy.A Rutgers University study of nearly 4,000 requests for lodging on the home-sharing platform found that guests with blindness, cerebral palsy, dwarfism and spinal cord injury were refused at rates higher than people without disabilities. In some instances, hosts who claimed that their homes were accessible were also more likely to approve guests without disabilities, according to the research published Friday. Continue reading...

Russian president calls allegations of interference in US presidential election ‘useless and harmful chatter’ at St Petersburg economic forumVladimir Putin has said the US needs to stop the “useless and harmful chatter” about Russian interference in the presidential election, arguing that Donald Trump’s electoral strategy was entirely responsible for his victory.

Small queue for yellow, intially misfiring, vending machine in London as Snapchat launches camera sunglasses in EuropeIt is shortly after 8am on the South Bank in London, but something has gone a little awry at the cutting edge of technology. In a plaza next to the London Eye, a handful of men in their 30s and 40s are standing around a bright yellow box the size of a vending machine, forlornly pressing its buttons to little effect.Before long a group of black-clad PR types have erected a yellow tent over the device, behind which an engineer busies himself. “Oh, there’s no issue,” says one cheerfully, “the Snapbot is just having a little nap. He’ll be awake soon.” Continue reading...

Google hopes it can improve browsing experience and protect its business model by only blocking the most annoying adsGoogle has confirmed it will build an adblocker into its Chrome browser from next year as it targets the most intrusive online adverts.The web giant is working with the Coalition for Better Ads, an independent group comprised of tech companies, publishers and major advertisers and agencies, that aims to improve the experience of web browsing. Continue reading...

High-profile departures from business advisory role shine light on other panel members and their beliefsDonald Trump may think tackling climate change is bad for business. But business? Not so much.Two of the US’s biggest business leaders, Tesla founder Elon Musk and Disney’s Robert Iger, have quit Trump’s high-powered business advisory panel after the president pressed ahead with plans to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

Snap Inc’s glasses that film circular videos of users’ everyday lives have been placed in vending machines in London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and VeniceSnapchat is bringing its Spectacles to Europe, placing five “snapbot” vending machines in London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and Venice to begin selling the £129.99 wearable cameras.It is the first time the glasses have been available outside the US, where they led to hundreds of people queueing throughout the winter in a bid to secure the coveted gadgets. But for those who don’t fancy joining the queues – or can’t get down to the London Eye, where Britain’s vending machine will be placed – the glasses are also available at Spectacles.com, for shipping across Europe. Continue reading...

Author Tim Wu on how the early utopian potential of the internet gave way to naked capitalismTim Wu is a law professor at Columbia University, best known for coining the term net neutrality, and for tracing the history of modern communications in his last book, The Master Switch. Continue reading...

In separate messages, the biggest companies in America express concern at Donald Trump’s Paris accord decision

Lawyer for AJ Vandermeyden says termination was retaliatory after she took lawsuit public, accusing the company of discriminationA female engineer at Tesla who accused the car manufacturer of ignoring her complaints of sexual harassment and paying her less than her male counterparts has been fired in what her lawyer alleges was an act of retaliation.

New voice-activated smart speaker will be first to fully integrate with Apple productsApple has reportedly started production of its Siri-based competitor to Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home, plugging a hole in its device lineup that has become increasingly noticeable over the past two years.The new device will be similar to competitors’ offerings in form, offering a voice-controlled speaker that can sit in the kitchen or living room and verbally respond to basic commands and queries. Continue reading...

Said’s parents use his tablet for surfing the internet, but it is becoming more sluggish and needs an upgrade. What could replace it?I own a Google Nexus 9, which my parents use for sofa-surfing and to access the internet when travelling. But in recent months, it has been running slower and slower. I’ve managed to get them to delete any large files and apps they aren’t using, but I think that, given the specs, it’s due an upgrade. It won’t be getting Android updates past Nougat 7.1.1 either.What would you recommend to replace it?The Google Nexus 9 was launched in November 2014 and HTC had ceased manufacturing by May 2016. However, you can still buy them, and the Nexus 9 even features on some of this year’s “best buy” lists of Android tablets. Continue reading...

Construction on building that is longer than the Shard is tall set to begin in King’s Cross in 2018Google has officially submitted plans for its new 92,000-square metre “landscraper” London headquarters, with the intention of beginning construction on the building in 2018.Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios, the team behind TfL’s New Bus for London and the 2012 Olympic Cauldron, the building will stand 11 storeys tall and stretch parallel to the platforms of London’s King’s Cross railway station. Continue reading...

With nods to Bladerunner and an isometric design that harks back to Amiga games, this could be great fun if the campaign mode wasn’t so trickyAttempt eight … cross bridge and stab guard with back turned. Immediate right and slice ninja waiting by exterior lift. Leap on lift and ride to roof, bypass countless foes and prep grenade for patrolling bodyguards. Unleash.Next reach roof and snipe fleeing target before he reaches exit. Jump 30 flights to ground below and run for cover. Shoot sword-juggling ninja in path with pistol – hat-tip to Indiana Jones – and rush to save point. Continue reading...

The country has closed its digital borders to prevent leaks during tests after papers were posted online by activists last yearEthiopia has shut off internet access to its citizens, according to reports from inside the country, apparently due leaked exam papers for the nation’s grade 10 examinations.Outbound traffic from Ethiopia was shutdown around 4pm UK time on Tuesday, according to Google’s transparency report, which registered Ethiopian visits to the company’s sites plummeting over the evening. By Wednesday afternoon, access still had not been restored. Continue reading...

It seems Simone de Beauvoir’s masterwork has prompted Google’s sibling company to come over all prim and properGoogle’s smart home sibling, Nest, has released a new product today: the Nest Cam IQ.It’s a high-resolution indoor security camera with speakers for shouting at intruders, and a smart motion detector that can send pics to your phone if someone does decide to break in to your house. Continue reading...

Criminal group that broke into servers of Lithuanian clinic demands bitcoin ransom payments from clients after releasing 25,000 picturesHackers have published more than 25,000 private photos, including nude pictures, and other personal data from patients of a Lithuanian cosmetic surgery clinic, police say.The images were made public on Tuesday by a hacking group calling themselves “Tsar Team”, which broke into the servers of the Grozio Chirurgija clinic earlier this year and demanded ransoms from the clinic’s clients in more than 60 countries around the world, including the UK. Continue reading...

Anthony Levandowski has invoked fifth amendment during deposition after he was accused of bringing 14,000 internal documents with him from WaymoUber has fired the head of its self-driving car unit, Anthony Levandowski, amid the continuing fallout from the engineer’s alleged theft of trade secrets from his former employer, Google.The termination, which was first reported by the New York Times, comes three months after Levandowksi was accused of stealing 14,000 internal documents from Google’s self-driving car spinoff, Waymo, and taking them to Uber. Waymo sued Uber in February, alleging that the ride-hail company was using the stolen documents to advance its lidar technology, and the case between the two Silicon Valley firms is set to go to trial in October. Continue reading...

Sue Roaf says excessive electricity use is causing power cuts in India, Nigel Boddy worries that we’re overreliant on modern technology, and Richard Gilyead wonders whether there will be resignations at British AirwaysBritish Airways and many other businesses have offshored electricity-dependent functions like IT services and call centres to northern India (BA chief refuses to resign after ‘catastrophic’ IT failure, 30 May). Increasingly this is a region in the grip of extended droughts and annual heatwaves associated with record-breaking temperatures that scientists say will only get worse with climate change.Catastrophic electricity system failures are exacerbated by heat-triggered thunderstorms and regional outages resulting from the air-conditioning-related energy demand spikes that are common in India. In July 2012 power failed for 600 million people in northern India in the biggest blackout in history. Continue reading...

FBI accuses Yevgeniy Nikulin of hacking LinkedIn, Formspring and Dropbox, and Russia has also filed extradition requestA Russian suspected hacker has moved a step closer to being sent to the US as a Czech judge gave tentative approval for an extradition to go ahead, during a court hearing held inside a high-security prison in Prague.Yevgeniy Nikulin, who was arrested at a restaurant in the Czech capital last October and is accused by the FBI of massive hacks of US companies, appeared at the hearing pale and emaciated after eight months in solitary confinement. Continue reading...

Although the fragmented nature of British campaigns makes them safer, phishing is still a serious threat, says US security expertA British political party will be the victim of a hack similar to those suffered by the Clinton and Macron presidential campaigns, a leading security researcher has warned.James Norton, a former official at the US Department of Homeland Security and head of the security consultancy Play-Action Strategies, said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s already been some emails stolen … it would surprise me if it didn’t happen.” Continue reading...

The Essential Phone features a bezel-free screen, dual 13mp cameras and a 360˚ video plugin using a new portThe co-founder of the Android operating system, Andy Rubin, has revealed his first new creation since leaving Google in 2014: a $699 Android phone that aims to take on Apple and Samsung for the high end of the mobile market.The phone, created by Rubin’s new firm, Essential, comes with the standard top-of-the-line setup in many areas: a 5.7in QHD display, a pair of 13MP rear cameras and an 8MP front-facing one, a 7.8mm thick body and USB-C connector at the base (although, taking a cue from Apple, there’s no headphone jack on the device). Continue reading...

A robot named BlessU-2 has been installed as part of an exhibition in Germany to mark 500 years since Martin Luther wrote Ninety-five Theses, a list of propostions for academic debate that started the Protestant Reformation in Europe. BlessU-2 can deliver blessings in five languages and beams light from its hands

BlessU-2, which delivers blessings in five languages, is intended to trigger debate about the future of the churchFive hundred years after revolutionary printing presses spread news of Martin Luther’s radical call for church reform across Europe, technology is again challenging religious tradition in the small German town of Wittenberg.A robot priest that delivers blessings in five languages and beams light from its hands has been unveiled as part of an exhibition to mark the anniversary of the start of the Reformation, a Europe-wide religious, political and cultural upheaval sparked when Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in the town. Continue reading...

Nintendo’s latest title in its classic RPG series has succeeded by opening up a world for players to explore like no game has beforeYou wake up, it’s dark and you’re lying in a pool. You don’t remember how you got here. You stand up, stretch your aching limbs, walk towards the exit and out into the brilliant sunshine. As your eyes adjust to the light, the world comes slowly into focus – and it is beautiful.The greens of the open plains contrast with the dark black of Death Mountain, which is streaked with orange lava on the distant horizon. As the sweeping orchestral soundtrack swells, you realise that you can go anywhere and that this is not like any Zelda you’ve played before. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Tuesday. Continue reading...

When Joy Buolamwini found that a robot recognised her face better when she wore a white mask, she knew a problem needed fixingJoy Buolamwini is a graduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League – an organisation that aims to challenge the biases in decision-making software. She grew up in Mississippi, gained a Rhodes scholarship, and she is also a Fulbright fellow, an Astronaut scholar and a Google Anita Borg scholar. Earlier this year she won a $50,000 scholarship funded by the makers of the film Hidden Figures for her work fighting coded discrimination.A lot of your work concerns facial recognition technology. How did you become interested in that area?

Could you do 10,000 miles to a gallon? A spoonful of petrol goes a very long way in these fuel-sipping wacky racersPrice: build your own

Bonnie Kalanick, 71, was out on lake with husband Donald, 78, in Fresno, California, when boat reportedly hit a rock and sankThe mother of Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, has died in a boating accident. Bonnie Kalanick, 71, died after the boat she and her husband, Donald, 78, were riding hit a rock in Pine Flat Lake in Fresno county, California, authorities said.The couple from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Northridge have been longtime boaters. In a memo to Uber staff, Liane Hornsey, the chief human resources officer, called the incident an “unthinkable tragedy”. She wrote that “everyone in the Uber family knows how incredibly close Travis is to his parents”. Continue reading...

This carbon-framed cycle hired from Armstrong’s shop is more than a match for the hills around Austin, Texas. But can our writer find the man himself?My friend Adam sent me to Austin, Texas, with a task: “Can you get Lance Armstrong to sign my US Postal Service jersey?” It’s like asking someone going to Newcastle if they can persuade Gazza to autograph an old Magpies shirt. Austin is a big place. Almost a million people live there. It’s true the seven-time Tour de France winner (since disqualified) is one of them, but would I be able to track him down?Armstrong’s bike shop seemed a good place to start. I’d heard he spends a lot of time hanging around Mellow Johnny’s (imagine “maillot jaune” said in a Texan drawl), a paradise for those cyclists who don’t mind their dollars going towards Armstrong’s legal fund. Continue reading...

Officials said it was too financially burdensome and logistically challenging to hand over salary records that the government requested in discrimination caseGoogle argued that it was too financially burdensome and logistically challenging to compile and hand over salary records that the government has requested, sparking a strong rebuke from the US Department of Labor (DoL), which has accused the Silicon Valley firm of underpaying women.Related: Google accused of 'extreme' gender pay discrimination by US labor department Continue reading...

After the bombing, several posts of fake victims went viral. We look at the disturbing trend that keeps fooling social media

Visitors embrace the online retailer’s move into the physical world – even if the brick-and-mortar store serves in large part as an ad for Amazon PrimeDrop in for a book. Walk out with a smart watch.Shopping in one of Amazon’s brand-new, three-dimensional bookstores affords visitors the opportunity to buy many things that aren’t books. A hands-free sous vide, for example. Or a tablet computer. Or a smart speaker equipped with Amazon’s “Alexa” virtual butler app. Continue reading...

A new report takes a nuanced look at some of the behaviours and cultural norms surrounding the nascent Internet-based far-right groupA new report from the researchers at New York-based think tank Data & Society takes a close and nuanced look at some of the behaviours and cultural norms of the “alt-right”, particularly when it comes to the manipulation of the media.

With timeless animated graphics and a brilliant orchestral score, the indie puzzle adventure encapsulates the sensation of being lost in a dreamThe story begins, as so many do, with a stormy sea, a flash of lightning, and a shipwreck. A child washes up on a deserted island and, with nary a word of exposition, embarks upon an epic journey.Tequila Works’ third-person puzzle adventure has been touted as an homage to Fumito Ueda’s Ico and The Last Guardian. But while they share some striking similarities, telling the story of a young kid tentatively finding their place in a big, confusing world, Rime takes the material down a melancholic path that’s very much its own. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday! Continue reading...

Ke Jie, who once boasted he would never be beaten by a computer at the ancient Chinese game, said he had ‘horrible experience’A Google algorithm has narrowly beaten the world’s best player in the ancient Chinese board game of Go, reaffirming the arrival of what its developers say is a groundbreaking new form of artificial intelligence.

Can you create a bubbly, cheeky two-dimensional persona that hides the emptiness of your life? Enjoy this careers service-style primerA survey of 1,000 children has revealed that three-quarters would consider a career in vlogging. But is there a viable market for YouTubers, and how do you even get started? Here’s a career guide.1. Entry requirements Continue reading...

Marcus Hutchins says hackers are attempting to overwhelm ‘kill switch’ that halted ransomware attack on NHS and global companiesThe “accidental hero” who registered a web address that became the so-called kill switch for WannaCry has said hackers are trying to overwhelm the site to resurrect the ransomware that plagued the NHS and companies around the world.

Marcus Hutchins says he will have to move house after newspaper identified him and published his full addressHe inadvertently halted the global spread of the international ransomware attack and will donate thousands of pounds of his reward money to charity, but Marcus Hutchins, the security expert labelled the “accidental hero”, has said his “five minutes of fame” have been “horrible”.Hutchins, 22, was propelled into the media spotlight when he activated a “kill switch” in the malicious software that wreaked havoc on organisations including the UK’s National Health Service earlier this month. He originally told the Guardian how he spotted the URL not knowing what it would do at the time, and spoke under his alias of MalwareTech because he did not want to be identified. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Monday! Continue reading...

When it came to Destiny’s sequel, the Halo developer wiped the slate clean to win over new players and give veterans a fresh experienceDestiny 2, the first true sequel to Bungie’s 2014 massively multiplayer online first person shooter, begins with the required bang. The game drops players in the midst of an all-out assault on the Tower, the core social location from the first two years of the series’ history and the last bastion of mankind as it fights a war against four separate alien races collectively referred to as “the Darkness”.A new villain, a leader of one of those four races named Dominus Ghaul, has decided to take the fight to humanity’s homeworld in an attempt to prove to the Traveller – Destiny’s mysterious space-god who elevated humanity to a race of superhero “Guardians” before falling silent aeons earlier – that his people, the Cabal, should have been the rightful recipients of its power. Continue reading...

In the run-up to the general election, six Guardian reporters are writing from constituencies across the country to find out what matters to you and your area. In the second dispatch from Cambridge, Amelia Gentleman and photographer Antonio Olmos meet people in the city’s video games industry who feel disengaged from the election but seriously concerned about BrexitThe longer you spend with the entrepreneurs behind the video game industry cluster in Cambridge, the more the forthcoming general election begins to seem a trifling, parochial concern.Compared with the momentous significance of the vote to leave the EU, next month’s election barely registers for people such as Mark Gerhard, CEO of Playfusion, a video game company (pictured above) employing 58 people, of whom about 60% are from the EU. “We don’t talk politics here. Almost all of us are disengaged from it. The cruel thing is that it doesn’t affect us; if it goes really bad we can change our situation, we can solve it,” he says. Continue reading...

Big tech firms say they are the only providers of large cybersecurity services – even as their products are compromised. The conflict of interest is hugeTo appreciate the perversity of our reliance on US technology giants, you just need to grapple with the fact that one of the likely winners in the global “cyber-outage” – caused by the series of crippling cyber-attacks that hit public and private institutions worldwide a week ago – might be the very company whose software was compromised – Microsoft.The WannaCry ransomware used in the attack wreaked havoc on organisations including FedEx and Telefónica, as well as the NHS, where operations were cancelled, x-rays, test results and patient records became unavailable and phones did not work. In the end the global spread of the attack was halted by an “accidental hero”, a 22-year-old IT security blogger from Ilfracombe, Devon. Marcus Hutchins found and inadvertently activated a “kill switch” in the malware by registering a specific domain name hidden within the program. Continue reading...