Technology | The Guardian

Ken Segall, who worked alongside the tech giant’s co-founder, says company’s incredible growth was rooted in his love of simplicity – but things have changedFour years ago, I wrote a book about Apple and the power of simplicity. It was the result of my observation, having worked with Steve Jobs as his ad agency creative director in the “think different” years, when Apple’s stellar growth was rooted in Steve’s love of simplicity.This love – you might call it obsession – could be seen in Apple’s hardware, software, packaging, marketing, retail store design, even the company’s internal organization. Continue reading...

Symbol is ‘online equivalent of taunting someone verbally’, says US watchdog the Anti-Defamation League chief, days after Google removes antisemitic Chrome extensionUS antisemitism watchdog, the Anti-Defamation League, has added the “(((echo)))” symbol, used online by white supremacists to single out Jews, to its online database of hate symbols.The group’s decision comes days after Google removed a Chrome extension that was being used by antisemites to add triple parentheses around the names of prominent Jewish public figures including Michael Bloomberg and New York Times journalist Jonathan Weisman. Continue reading...

Chinese firm’s super-sized flagship is great, with fun camera, excellent selfies, snappy performance and solid battery life - it’s just a shame about the customised AndroidThe Huawei P9 Plus is a bigger version of the Chinese smartphone manufacturer’s first excellent offering. It claims to be “plus in every way” – and it doesn’t disappoint.

Pioneering programme is teaching refugees coding so they can become developers and is helping them integrate in societyProblem one: Finland’s otherwise flourishing startup scene has a chronic shortage of developers.Problem two: the 32,000-plus asylum seekers who arrived in the Nordic country last year – many young, highly educated and computer literate – face waiting for years before they land a job. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterTuesday! Continue reading...

Say farewell to chronological ordering of posts – users are now seeing their feed as organised by Instagram’s own formula, and they’re not happyIs your Instagram feed still ordered oldest-to-newest? Then treasure your straightforward user experience because it is not going to last.Controversial changes to the photo-sharing platform that were met with widespread outcry when they were first flagged in March are taking effect, with users around the world reporting a new algorithm-driven feed. Continue reading...

Unicef presses governments to better protect young people as international survey finds most 18-year-olds say friends take risks onlineEight out of 10 18-year-olds worldwide believe young people are in danger of being sexually abused or taken advantage of online, a Unicef study suggests.The poll on unwanted sexual comments, harassment and bullying online was run by Ipsos, which interviewed more than 10,000 teenagers from 25 countries. More than half of respondents said their friends participated in risky behaviour while using the internet. Continue reading...

Mitsubishi urged to recall at least 100,000 cars after hackers remotely turned off the alarm system, controlled the lights and drained the batteryA team of security researchers are calling on Mitsubishi to recall at least 100,000 Outlander hybrid cars after exposing a security breach that allowed the hackers to remotely turn off the car’s alarm system, control the lights and drain the battery.Ken Munro, the security expert who led the investigation, was tipped off about the vulnerability when his friend’s Outlander showed up as a wifi access point on his phone. Curious, he bought one of the cars himself and set about hacking it. Continue reading...

The Guns N’ Roses frontman is trying to get Google to remove images that he says violate copyright – and they just happen to be a little unflatteringGuns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has long battled the trappings of internet-era celebrity. When his band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, the singer wrote a 1,000--word open letter refusing his own part in the induction and imploring the organization not to include him in absentia. The hall of fame politely yet swiftly declined his request.Undeterred, Rose is now taking on the definitive hall of fame – waging war against Skynet itself, no less – by demanding that Google removes the now infamous photos of his sweaty, rounder-than-usual face from a 2010 concert now associated with the “fat Axl Rose” meme from their search engines. Continue reading...

Prominent figure in online privacy circles resigns from post at Tor after a series of anonymous accusations of repeated sexual and emotional abuseA prominent digital privacy researcher has denied a series of anonymous online accusations that he sexually harassed and assaulted colleagues over a period of several years.It’s a bizarre twist for Jacob Appelbaum, who has spent his career making it easier for people act anonymously online. Appelbaum, 33, is closely linked to both Edward Snowden and the Tor Project, the not-for-profit organization behind the anonymous web browser. Over the weekend, anonymous accusers created a website that alleges Appelbaum emotionally and sexually abused others in the community repeatedly. Continue reading...

A Minneapolis woman, who later became a ‘super host’, denied TV producer Shadi Petosky’s request because of fears of having a trans guest around her sonAirbnb is under fire after a transgender guest was denied a stay by a host who felt “uncomfortable”.When the guest complained privately to Airbnb in 2015, the company did not remove the host, but in fact later promoted her to “super host” status, which rewards more experienced hosts with multiple five-star reviews from their guests. Continue reading...

It was good to see your extensive coverage of the new 35-mile Gotthard Base tunnel (Five miles longer than the Channel tunnel, Switzerland’s transalpine record breaker, 1 June). A useful reminder of the contribution large civil infrastructure projects make to economic development. It’s a pity you did not mention the nine workers who are reported to have died in accidents during the construction and are commemorated by a plaque close to the northern portal. There is much contemporary complaint about excessive health and safety legislation from the EU and our own government. Think on: there’s a reason it’s still needed.

Faith is restored to a visually striking world she deserves in the return of the first-person parkour title – but, as with the original, niggles stop it achieving greatnessMirror’s Edge has always been a passion project for Dice, the Stockholm-based developer better known for its bombastic and hugely successful Battlefield series. The original Mirror’s Edge, released in 2007, was a first-person parkour game with a striking visual style, which to this day it divides opinion – some consider it a masterpiece, while others found it trammelled and frustrating. The game was too modest a success to earn a sequel but, just under a decade later, Dice has another chance to get Faith – and her city – running again.Much of hero Faith’s moveset is functionally unchanged from the original game, though it now looks better than ever, and Catalyst’s appeal is in how the first-person perspective embodies her. Run forwards and you’ll catch glimpses of her hands moving up and down; catch a railing and her arms catch the railing; roll forwards and your view moves through 360 degrees with glimpses of her hunched knees; stand on top of the highest building in the city, look down, and you’ll see her feet. It’s not just the good stuff either – the way her arms flail during a nasty tumble, how she reels back from punches, or the panicked gasping when you’ve misjudged a leap and sent her tumbling into oblivion have all been improved. Continue reading...