Technology | The Guardian

Fall overnight comes after it shrinks by $279bn on Tuesday in biggest one-day drop in value by US company

For my final email, I open the TechScape mailbag for throwbacks, highlights and predictions on the issues that are preoccupying you now Don't get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article hereAfter three years and more than 100 issues, as well as two bouts of paternity leave, two AI summits and an entire cryptocurrency boom-bust cycle, this is my last newsletter. It's also the end of my 11 years at the Guardian, almost to the week: my first day was the release of the iPhone 5S, and on 9 September we'll see the launch of the iPhone 16. It's been a ride.For the last two weeks I've been asking readers for questions and have been bombarded. I apologise if I didn't get round to yours, but thank you so much to everyone who wrote in. Continue reading...

Autumn and winter are the best time for gamers, and if your set-up is looking a little stale, here are the key ingredients for a serious seasonal upgradeWith summer gone and the skies already greying over in preparation for six months of uncontested rain, you may well be thinking more seriously about video games. September and October tend to see the biggest releases of the year, so you can expect many evenings spent hiding from the world while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Mario Party Jamboree. If your gaming set-up is looking a little tired and you want to treat yourself to a serious seasonal upgrade, here are some suggestions. Continue reading...

Guidelines also stipulate teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a dayChildren under the age of two should not be exposed to any screens whatsoever and teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day, according to guidelines announced by health authorities in Sweden.Parents and guardians should think about how they use screens with their children and tell them what they are doing on their phones when they use them in their presence, the advice says. Continue reading...

Marking the anniversary, the creators of the rap beef beat-em-up sequel share memories of transforming Flavor Flav and Snoop Dogg into legendary video game charactersI remember we visited Ghostface Killah [of the Wu-Tang Clan] and he was mad at us!" recalls Daryl Anselmo, former EA employee and art director for 2004's landmark hip-hop-fused beat-em-up, Def Jam: Fight for NY. Ghostface had a four-pound solid gold eagle bracelet and he insisted his character's finishing move should be this bird coming to life and pecking out all the other rappers' eyeballs. The limitations of the PlayStation 2 technology and our violence restrictions meant we couldn't pull it off. It was impossible."The game's producer Josh Holmes interjects: When Ghostface first asked me about the eagle, Lauren [Wirtzer Seawood, another one of the game's producers] told me just to nod along and smile. When we saw him again in the studio for the sequel, I apologised [for misleading him] and we quickly moved on to recording his character's expanded insults for the new game. I remember one was: Go home and cry to your momma. And, while you're at it, tell her I'm hungry!'" Continue reading...

All the camera, AI and performance of Google's top Android squeezed into a tighter bodyThe Pixel 9 Pro is a rare beast: a smaller phone that keeps the same bold design, specs and camera as Google's biggest and most expensive model. It makes it an instant contender for the best small phone going.At 999 (1,099/$999/A$1,699), it is cheaper than its larger Pixel 9 Pro XL sibling but still firmly in the high-end bracket. What sets it apart is the 6.3in screen is significantly tighter than the monster 6.7in-plus sizes you usually need to get the very best hardware.Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi)Processor: Google Tensor G4RAM: 16GB of RAMStorage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: Android 14Camera: 50MP + 48MP ultrawide + 48MP 5x telephoto, 42MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)Dimensions: 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.5mmWeight: 199g Continue reading...

In recent months, followers of influential liberal bloggers have been interviewed by police as China widens its net of online surveillanceLate last year, Duan*, a university student in China, used a virtual private network to jump over China's great firewall of internet censorship and download social media platform Discord.Overnight he entered a community in which thousands of members with diverse views debated political ideas and staged mock elections. People could join the chat to discuss ideas such as democracy, anarchism and communism. After all, it's hard for us to do politics in reality, so we have to do it in a group chat," Yang Minghao, a popular vlogger, said in a video on YouTube. Continue reading...

Campaign group says firms such as Uber should reveal data on driver miles to help boost wagesUber and other ride-hailing apps should be forced to publish data on drivers' workloads so that regulators can tackle exploitation and cut carbon emissions, campaigners argue.Analysis by the pressure group Worker Info Exchange suggests drivers for Uber and its smaller rivals may have missed out on more than 1.2bn in wages and costs last year because of the way they are compensated. Continue reading...

Two men flew between New York and London at three times the speed of sound. No other aircraft has since been as fast as the Blackbird SR-71, explains crew member Noel WiddifieldOn 1 September 1974 two men made the fastest ever journey between New York and London. The astonishing trip - at three times the speed of sound - took less than two hours and set a record that still stands 50 years later.Even the mighty Concorde, which set the record for the fastest commercial transatlantic flight in 1996, straggled in almost an hour behind. Continue reading...

Ahead of the publication of his book about leadership - definitely not aimed at Keir Starmer - the former prime minister talks about relinquishing power, why he's not fazed about a second Trump term and being an AI evangelist

A writer with no technical background recounts his incredible journey into the realm of coding and the invaluable lesson it taught him about the modern worldOne day in 2017 I had a realisation that seems obvious now but had the power to shock back then: almost everything I did was being mediated by computer code. And as the trickle of code into my world became a flood, that world seemed to be getting not better but worse in approximate proportion. I began to wonder why.Two possibilities sprang immediately to mind. One was the people who wrote the code - coders - long depicted in pop culture as a clan of vaguely comic, Tolkien-worshipping misfits. Another was the uber-capitalist system within which many worked, exemplified by the profoundly weird Silicon Valley. Were one or both using code to recast the human environment as something more amenable to them? Continue reading...

A list of book choices by the Silicon Valley titans offers little more than a blank page with respect to real insights into their mindsetIn August, a thoughtful blogger, Tanner Greer, posed an interesting question to the Silicon Valley crowd: What are the contents of the vague tech canon'? If we say it is 40 books, what are they?" He was using the term canon" in the sense of the collection of works considered representative of a period or genre", but astutely qualifying it to stop Harold Bloom - the great literary critic who spent his life campaigning for a canon consisting of the great works of the past (Shakespeare, Proust, Dante, Montaigne et al) - spinning in his grave.Greer's challenge was immediately taken up by Patrick Collison, co-founder with his brother, John, of the fintech giant Stripe (market value $65bn) and thus among the richest Irishmen in history. Unusually among tech titans, Collison is a passionate advocate of reading, and so it was perhaps predictable that he would produce a list of 43 books - adding a caveat that it wasn't the list of books that I think one ought to read - it's just the list that I think roughly covers the major ideas that are influential here". (Here" being Silicon Valley.) Continue reading...

Millions of users shut out and 500,000 switch to rival platform Bluesky as providers enact supreme court ban

(KeelWorks; Konami; PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox)

In isolation, Alexander Grothendieck seemed to have lost touch with reality, but some say his metaphysical theories could contain wondersOne day in September 2014, in a hamlet in the French Pyrenean foothills, Jean-Claude, a landscape gardener in his late 50s, was surprised to see his neighbour at the gate. He hadn't spoken to the 86-year-old in nearly 15 years after a dispute over a climbing rose that Jean-Claude had wanted to prune. The old man lived in total seclusion, tending to his garden in the djellaba he always wore, writing by night, heeding no one. Now, the long-bearded seeker looked troubled.Would you do me a favour?" he asked Jean-Claude. Continue reading...

The photographer was drawn to the colours and the geometry at his hotel in a national park in southern SpainAntonio Heredia arrived at Hotel de la Naturaleza in south-east Spain while it was shrouded in darkness. It was past midnight, and Heredia and a colleague had spent the day filming a story about one of the last remaining lighthouse keepers in the country.Mario Sanz is based in Mesa Roldan lighthouse, in the national park Cabo de Gata-Nijar, but he's one of just 15 still on duty in Spain. The other lighthouses are operated remotely with computers now. We finished the assignment and drove to this hotel. The roads were narrow and without lights, and we almost got lost." Continue reading...

The immersive theatrical experience, which sees your seat move, shake and often spray water, has seen a record summerDuring this long, hot, languishing summer, I have come to believe in one thing and one thing only: seeing Twisters in 4DX. The Oklahoma-set film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, is about a 7/10 movie in 2D - a blockbuster sequel of sorts to the 1996 disaster flick, starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as tornado chasers with modest chemistry. But in the immersive theatrical format known as 4DX, in which viewers are buffeted with literal wind and rain, Twisters becomes an unmissable 10/10 experience.In 4DX, you feel every bump and jolt of a truck in an F5 gale, thanks to moving seats that, among other things, punch you in the back and tickle your ankles. When the characters clung to bolted theater seats during a final climactic storm, I too clung to my armrest, lest I get rattled off my wind-ripped chair. Each of the film's tornado encounters drew loud cheers at my screening, as did the shot of Powell in a tight white T-shirt during a palpable drizzle. I emerged from Twisters with tangled hair and horizontal tear streaks; my friend lost her shoe. In 4DX, you do not just, in the words of Powell's Tyler Owens, ride" the storm. You are the storm. Continue reading...

This queer emancipation story is set in a cosy pixellated art world but all is not what it seems. You'll tend your flock, pick some flowers - and also have to dethrone GodThe realm of Hus is a rural idyll, where happy villagers wander the marketplace and young shepherdess Ren tends to her flock while her partner, Tyra, fixes up their cottage. It's almost as though they are all living in a cosy farming simulator, created by a benevolent game developer. But are they? Or is it just an illusion cast by an evil deity, trapping them in a horrifying pixellated facade?This is the delightfully meta" setup to Quantum Witch, a pixel art platformer by lone developer Nikki Jay. Heavily inspired by old LucasArts adventures and the legendary Dizzy series on the ZX Spectrum, it's a comedy game with a serious autobiographical heart. Jay grew up in a right wing religious sect based in the north-east of England with an incredibly enclosed perspective. They were obsessed with the end of the world," she says. They believed it could happen at anytime and that all the wicked people would be destroyed: so I had to be good. It was extremely oppressive." Continue reading...

Pavel Durov will probably use French legal disputes to position himself as a champion of free speech, say observersWhen Pavel Durov came under criticism from Russian regulators over the spread of pornography on the VKontakte social media platform he founded, the tech entrepreneur responded mockingly by changing his Twitter handle from VK CEO" to Porn King".More than a decade later, Durov's anti-authoritarian stance and hands-off approach to moderation have landed him in more serious trouble. Continue reading...

Social media platform to be blocked by ISPs because it did not appoint legal representative in allotted timeThe Brazilian supreme court has ordered that X be suspended in the country after the social media platform failed to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.Late on Friday afternoon, Justice Alexandre de Moraes - who has been engaged in a dispute with X's owner, Elon Musk, since April - ordered the immediate, complete and total suspension of X's operations" in the country, until all court orders ... are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country". Continue reading...

A sinister Alexa upgrade exerts control on family in an increasingly nonsensical attempt to capture the momentGiven how technology has become the increasingly unstoppable architect of our everyday lives - the world edging closer and closer to a Terminator prequel - it's not hard to immediately invest in a horror film about the all-consuming threat of artificial intelligence. The film industry itself has been losing ground as AI continues to provide a cheaper and easier alternative to those pesky humans and in a year of bleak headline after bleak headline, it should theoretically be perfect timing for Blumhouse's late August M3gan-adjacent chiller AfrAId. Yet, as one might be able to predict without the help of a digital forecast, easy targets are easily missed in a hokey and rushed jumble of half-ideas that's as gimmicky and eye-rollingly stupid as its title. Be afraid.In the dog days of summer, on a particularly rubbishy Labor Day weekend at the movies (other new releases include long-delayed sci-fi thriller Slingshot and a reverential biopic of Reagan), it's at least reassuring to know that very few people will find themselves stuck with this one (it's tracking to make between $5m and $7m). Sony, clearly scared of scaring off those precious few, decided not to provide a single press screening, aware of the critical drubbing this would receive. It's not quite as unreleasably awful as that strategy might suggest - it's competently, at times handsomely, shot, refreshingly dour and crucially not as awful as The Crow - but it's too sloppily written and edited for even the least discerning of horror fans to really enjoy, a patchwork of nonsense confusingly stitched together by someone, who at one point, knew better. Continue reading...

The collection comes from a mysterious (and fictional) 80s video game company and includes puzzles and platformers, RPGs and category-defying hybrids, all in 8-bit splendourWhen it comes to video games, one thing is universal: releasing one is tough. But releasing 50? At once? That's another boss level entirely. This is the challenge for the team behind UFO 50. This much anticipated 8-bit anthology of retro-styled games is finally due to release this September, seven years after its announcement. With 50 games included, the wait is justified.UFO 50 is a jumbo variety pack of complete video games, each with its own title, genre and story. They're not minigames," asserts developer Derek Yu and creator of 2008 platformer Spelunky, named one of the greatest games ever made. Every game could exist as a full release on some 80s console or computer." Continue reading...

Years ago, I could confidently beat my kids at Earth's ultimate multiplayer game, but those days are gone. Or are they?I am dying. Either aged 84 or 54, according to the two extremes of life expectancy calculator I found online, which is worrying because I am 55 in December. I'm running out of time to do the things I dream of: see Machu Picchu; find a good vegan sausage; beat my kids at Mario Kart again.It was our number one family game until they started massacring me so gleefully I was forced into acts of petty revenge: namely, taking things of theirs they loved and secretly giving them to charity shops. They still miss that cat. Continue reading...

Taking the plunge and giving your child a handset? Here's all you need to know - from the best models to the tariffs and networks (and how to use parental controls)As the schools go back, pressure mounts on parents to give their children their first phone. If you've decided the time has come, there are many options to choose from, whether it's a smartphone, a basic handset, or an upgrade to something newer.From the handset to the mobile service that goes with it, and from key parental controls to how well the phone fits with the devices you already use, here are some of the things you should know before taking the plunge - including which models are the best. Continue reading...

Doubling of quarterly revenues to 23bn fails to allay worry about delays to next generation of AI chipsShares in the chip designer Nvidia have fallen after investors were spooked by signs of slowing growth and production issues, despite the artificial intelligence company posting a 122% rise in second-quarter revenues compared with the same period last year.The Silicon Valley company's revenues for the period more than doubled to $30bn (23bn), beating average analyst estimates of $28.7bn. However, investors were concerned about signs of a slowdown in growth, in particular around its next-generation AI chips, codenamed Blackwell. Continue reading...

Weapons facilities targeted as security companies report more sabotage attempts, espionage and cyber-attacksSwedish authorities have warned of a heightened risk of Russian sabotage, in particular of weapons facilities, as the defence industry said it was being increasingly targeted.Security companies in Sweden reported a rise in sabotage attempts, including using drones over defence company facilities to document and map them, more aggressive" espionage, cyber-attacks and misinformation. Continue reading...

Groundbreaking bill aims to reduce potential AI risks - requiring model testing and disclosure of safety protocolA California bill that would establish first-in-the-nation safety measures for the largest artificial intelligence systems cleared an important vote Wednesday. The proposal, aiming to reduce potential risks created by AI, would require companies to test their models and publicly disclose their safety protocols to prevent the models from being manipulated to, for example, wipe out the state's electric grid or help build chemical weapons - scenarios experts say could be possible in the future with such rapid advancements in the industry.The measure squeaked by in the state assembly Wednesday and won procedural approval in the state senate. It now heads to the governor's desk for his signature, though he has not indicated his position on it. Governor Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to decide whether to sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. He declined to weigh in on the measure earlier this summer but had warned against AI overregulation. Continue reading...

On Saturday 24 April, the billionaire founder of the Telegram social media and messaging app, Pavel Durov, was arrested by French authorities as he disembarked from his private jet in Paris on his way from Azerbaijan. Officials said the arrest was part of an inquiry into criminal activity on the platform and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement. Durov has since been formally charged.In a statement on Sunday, Telegram said it abided by European Union laws and that its moderation was 'within industry standards and constantly improving'. 'Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,' it said. 'It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, are responsible for abuse of that platform.'

Players use supernatural powers to source and curate their stock in this refreshing action game which sits somewhere between Suspiria and a psychic Bargain HuntIn the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, the Lemonade Games team found themselves in a rental home nestled between two vintage stores. With an ex-antiques professional in their midst and years of game-making experience between them, the idea for the studio's esoteric adventure game started to come together. We spent the week conceptualising, making art, taking photos, watching movies and prototyping," says creative director, Ally McLean Hennessey. It was a really organic way to start shaping a game, and the spirit of that week carries through in how we work together now."In Mystiques: Haunted Antiques, described by its creators as a game about the four worst women you've ever met running a failing antique store", players step into the platform sneakers of a fashionista/business owner, Gem, who's struggling to manage a failing curio curation business. Taking advantage of some newly earned and vocationally convenient psychic powers, Gem pierces the veil between life and death, seeking out troves of high-quality merchandise. Players will be going out on jobs to homes of the recently deceased, estate sales and the like, searching for haunted items and using the information they glean from communing with their spirits to find and bring back the most valuable items to sell," McLean Hennessey says. From string-bound gaming magazines and lava lamps to cursed vases, you'll inspect and inventory all sorts of arcane bric-a-brac as you progress. Continue reading...

The movie megastars contribute to Rebecca Keegan's irresistible show, A Film We Can't Refuse. Plus: five of the best outdoors podcasts Don't get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMo Gilligan: Beginning, Middle & End

Chipmaker, third most valuable company in world, records $30.04bn in revenue, showing AI demand continues to riseChipmaker Nvidia reported its latest financial results on Wednesday, recording $30.04bn in revenue over the past three months - a 122% jump from the year prior - and showing that artificial intelligence investment mania shows no signs of cooling.Analysts had anticipated about $28.7bn in revenue. Shares slid more than 3% in after-hours trading. Continue reading...

Pavel Durov, who has French citizenship, faces prosecution over alleged failure to suppress spread of sexual images of children and calls for violenceThe head of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been charged by the French judiciary for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app but avoided jail with a 5m bail.The Russian-born multi-billionaire, who has French citizenship, was granted release on condition that he report to a police station twice a week and remain in France, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. Continue reading...

PC; Blizzard

New documentary looks for a woman who was synonymous with typing in the 80s and 90s, with surprising resultsBefore bashing out emails and text messages by thumb became an accepted form of communication, typing was a fully manual skill. In the 80s, the office" was an exclusive preserve for freaks who could type 40 words per minute at least. Those too modest or miserly to sign up for brick-and-mortar classes could pick up a software program called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for $50. At my Catholic high school, the application was the typing class. The priests just switched on the computers.Launched in late 1987, Mavis Beacon quickly assumed pride of place on home PC desks amid floppy disks for SimCity and After Dark. Among other features, Mavis gamified typing drills and tracked typing progress in explicit detail. Its defining feature was the elegant Black woman with a cream suit and slicked-back bob marching proudly off to her high-rise job on the cover of the software package. But it would take a few more decades for the bigger lesson in the pitfalls of relinquishing control over your image and likeness to corporate interests. Continue reading...

Streamers were given list of topics to avoid also including news and politics, Covid-19 and China's game industryHit new Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong has sparked controversy after gaming influencers who were given early access were told not to mention news and politics, Covid-19, or feminist propaganda" while publicly discussing the game.The game, which was released last week, is China's first triple A" rated game, an industry term meaning a high budget blockbuster game, and is based on the famous 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.Do NOT insult other influencers or players.

Found-footage horror about YouTube pranksters turns into an online phenomenon, giving its star and creator a Hollywood inroad2024 is already becoming something of a banner year for horror, with Longlegs making over $100m and Late Night with the Devil earning a whopping 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And yet the breakout horror of the year might just be an $800 project currently available to watch free on YouTube.Milk & Serial is a 62-minute, found-footage horror by YouTuber Curry Barker, and it manages to be at once ruthlessly effective and wonderfully authentic. Racking up 348,000 views in the two weeks since its release, its popularity has been supercharged by raves on Reddit that have since crossed over into traditional media. Bloody Disgusting called it one of the year's best-kept secrets" and this week Barker found himself being interviewed by no less than Variety. Continue reading...

The charges against Pavel Durov increases pressure on Brussels to enforce new European law on the platformThe surprise arrest of the Russian-born co-founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, after he stepped off his private jet in Paris last Saturday night, has brought the one-time fringe social network under the glare of the spotlight like never before.Durov's arrest - after an investigation by the Paris prosecutor into organised crime, child sex abuse images, fraud and money laundering on the platform - also raises the stakes for the European Union, which has adopted the world's most ambitious laws to police the internet, notably the Digital Services Act (DSA). Coming into force in November 2022, the DSA targets online platforms too big to care" - in the words of the EU commissioner, Thierry Breton - putting demands on internet firms to remove illegal content, protect children, tackle disinformation and other online harms. Continue reading...

New running headphones combine bone conduction and open-air speakers for more rounded soundSo-called bone conduction headphones are a runner's best friend, allowing you to be fully aware of the outside world while you listen to your motivational tunes. But the technology simply can't generate decent bass - a problem that the open-ear headphone firm Shokz thinks it has solved with its latest OpenRun Pro 2.The follow-up to the popular OpenRun Pro and OpenSwim lines, the OpenRun Pro 2 cost 169 (199/$175/A$299) and resemble most competitors, with bone conduction pods held in place in front of the ear by two loops and a band that runs behind your head.Water resistance: IP55 (spray resistant)Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 (SBC)Battery life: 12hDimensions: 30.9 x 21.7 x 24.3mmWeight: 30.3gDrivers: Air and bone conductionCharging: USB-C Continue reading...

A man in Washington state has trademarked the phrase - but all isn't lost for Jools LeBron, legal experts sayThe creator behind TikTok's demure" catchphrase has become more mindful of US trademark law.Jools Lebron, an influencer with over 2 million followers on the app, became an overnight sensation after advising on how to be demure", mindful" and cutesy" at work and in life. The trend picked up steam, with brands like Verizon and Netflix working with Lebron on sponsored content, and celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo and Gillian Anderson using the phrase in their own videos. Continue reading...

Nvidia co-founder Curtis Priem has a vision for a quantum computing future and believes the area along the Hudson valley is fertile for the next tech boomThe quantum chandelier" that sits within a glass box in the chapel at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's campus in Troy, New York, is the symbolic centerpiece of an ambitious effort to turn upstate New York into an advanced technology center - what Silicon Valley is to social media or Cambridge, Massachusetts, is to biotech.The silver sci-fi object, named for interior gold lattices that suspend, cool and isolate its processor, is the heart of a quantum computing system" that could herald a new age of computing. It's the centerpiece of the dream Curtis Priem, a co-founder of Nvidia, the $2.8tn artificial intelligence hardware and software company, has of turning Rensselaer, or RPI, into an advanced computing hub and refashioning this area of upstate New York into a new Silicon Valley. Continue reading...

Journalists are using artificial intelligence avatars to combat Maduro's media crackdown since disputed electionThe Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who spent some of his happiest years chronicling life in Caracas, once declared journalism the best job in the world".Not so if you are reporting on today's Venezuela, where journalists are feeling the heat as the South American country lurches towards full-blown dictatorship under President Nicolas Maduro. Continue reading...

Meta boss regrets bowing to government power and says he would not make the same choices todayThe Meta boss, Mark Zuckerberg, has said he regrets bowing to what he claims was pressure from the US government to censor posts about Covid on Facebook and Instagram during the pandemic.Zuckerberg said senior White House officials in Joe Biden's administration repeatedly pressured" Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to censor certain Covid-19 content" during the pandemic. Continue reading...

In this week's newsletter: Pavel Durov's detention by French authorities is a major break from the norm - but his low-moderation, non-encrypted app is an anomaly

He has been praised for refusing to share data with the Kremlin. But if targeting CEOs worries Musk, Zuckerberg et al, so be itThe shock arrest of Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov as he stepped off his private jet in the Bourget airport near Paris over the weekend is a startling, unprecedented event: he faces alleged offences that could include enabling fraud, drug trafficking, organised crime, promotion of terrorism and cyberbullying.He may not be an Elon Musk or a Mark Zuckerberg, but he is the CEO of a tech platform with 950 million monthly users, and is the first big name in tech to find himself potentially on the wrong side of the European Union's increasingly strict laws and regulations in the digital sphere. Continue reading...

PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

AI images posted to Truth Social bore the watermark of a tiny Texas non-profit looking to bankroll X usersWhen Donald Trump shared a slew of AI-generated images this week that falsely depicted Taylor Swift and her fans endorsing his campaign for president, the former US president was amplifying the work of a murky non-profit with aspirations to bankroll rightwing media influencers and a history of spreading misinformation.Several of the images Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, which showed digitally rendered young women in Swifties for Trump" T-shirts, were the products of the John Milton Freedom Foundation. Launched last year, the Texas-based non-profit organization frames itself as a press freedom group with the goal of empowering independent journalists" and fortifying the bedrock of democracy". Continue reading...

Once nicknamed the Russian Zuckerberg', Durov has boasted of being the biological father of more than 100 childrenThe Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded wildly popular social networks as well as a cryptocurrency, amassed a multibillion dollar fortune and locked horns with authorities in Russia and around the world.Still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the man once nicknamed the Russian Zuckerberg" after the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now finds himself under arrest in France after being detained at a Paris airport this weekend. Continue reading...

Company says fungal chitosan, made from cell walls of oyster mushrooms, is active ingredient in new hair productsMushrooms are the wellness trend du jour, turning up in coffee, supplements and even beer. Now, we are being told to slather them on our heads after Dyson revealed they could be a secret weapon in the age-old battle with frizzy hair.Dyson researchers have discovered that fungal chitosan - which is found in the cell walls of oyster mushrooms and commonly used in skincare products - can be used to tame unruly hair. Continue reading...

A secondhand EV is a possibility for many families as the cost of desirable models, including Kias and Teslas, falls to 15,000If your current car is on the way out and you think an electric replacement is too expensive, think again. Three-year-old Tesla Model 3s and Kia e-Niros that will do 250-300 miles on a single charge can now be bought for as little as 14,000.In the last year, forecourt prices for used electric cars have tumbled to the extent that previously unaffordable models are now within the reach of many families for the first time. Continue reading...

Billionaire CEO, who was travelling aboard his private jet, was subject of arrest warrant, according to TV reportsPavel Durov, billionaire co-founder and chief executive of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV said, citing an unnamed source.Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France. Continue reading...