Technology | The Guardian

Media company had offered to set up an internal committee rather than recognise a union for its staff membersVice UK has been accused of an “old-fashioned union-busting ruse” by the head of the National Union of Journalists after the web-based company rejected a push for recognition from staff.The NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, also said Vice’s claims the union had shown a “concerning lack of transparency” in negotiations were untrue and vowed to continue pushing for recognition. Continue reading...

Organisations are first official partners of Internet Matters, set up two years ago to cover issues such as cyberbullyingThe BBC and Google have joined forces with internet service providers on an initiative to promote online safety for children.The two organisations have become the first official partners of Internet Matters, which was set up two years ago by BT, Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk to teach parents and children about issues such as cyberbullying and protecting privacy. Google and the BBC already run their own internet safety programmes, but Internet Matters claims their support recognises the importance of a collaborative approach. Continue reading...

Filipino presidential supporters also affected by bug, sparking anger at opponentsA bug in Facebook’s anti-spam algorithm has been accidentally suspending groups on the social network, sparking anger from the groups’ founders and conspiracy theories from some of their followers.On Monday night, six pro-Bernie Sanders groups were temporarily suspended by Facebook. A day later, five Facebook groups supporting Filipino presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, with a total membership of more than 3 million people, were also taken down for a short period. Continue reading...

From what it is to how much it costs, we answer key questions about the solitary confinement of prisonersSolitary confinement is the practice of isolating people in closed cells for 22-24 hours a day, virtually free of human contact, for periods of time ranging from days to decades. Continue reading...

Based on former prisoners’ testimonies, our virtual reality prison, 6x9, replicates the experience in disturbing detailThere’s a thin mattress on a concrete platform bed, a stainless steel washbasin and toilet, a metal door with a slot for food, and four walls rather too close for comfort. Continue reading...

Find out more about 6x9, an immersive experience of solitary confinement in US prisons which places viewers in a virtual segregation cell they can explore and interact with. It highlights the psychological effects of long-term solitary confinement for people who have experienced it first-hand around the world

KPMG report also finds that 44% of UK adults are planning to block ads within the next six monthsAlmost half of people planning to use an adblocker say a general dislike of ads is one of the main reasons for doing so, according to a new report that highlights the scale of the problems facing digital media.

The humble blow dryer is the latest product to be Dyson’d. Is it as noisy as the cult brand’s other tools? Let’s put it to the testCatherine the Great once described the wind as giving you either imagination or a headache. She hadn’t, of course, accounted for Dyson, which, for the past 20 years, has had the monopoly on harnessing blown air in its award-winning vacuum cleaners, hand-dryers and fans. These products have made Dyson, the man and the company, one of the UK’s greatest stories of innovation and profit. Last year, product sales were up almost 25%, a figure that should soon be bolstered by the next device to be Dyson’d: the hairdryer, and last bastion of air-based appliances.Although Dyson’s products are efficient and cool if you like to see “where the magic happens” (they are often transparent so you can see the moving parts), they are often very loud. Famously loud. Dirty, too, apparently, but it’s mainly the noise. The hand-dryers and vacuums are thought to reach around 80 decibels, which is the same as standing 15m from a freight train. Continue reading...

Swedish carmaker plans to run driverless vehicles on public roads starting with small number of semi-autonomous cars in 2017Volvo is set to run self-driving versions of its family 4x4s on roads around London next year as the motor industry’s trial of autonomous vehicles accelerates.While self-driving pods and shuttles were already due to operate on pavements in Greenwich and Milton Keynes this summer, the Swedish carmaker is planning to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in the capital from 2017. Continue reading...

Update aims to speed up reporting process for those suffering from online abuse and will be rolled out to users in coming weeksTwitter has improved its anti-harassment tools, adding the ability to report multiple abusive tweets at the same time.

Blockchain, the technology that underpins the bitcoin currency may be used to increase efficiency in distribution of taxpayer moneyThe UK government is exploring using the blockchain technology that underpins the bitcoin currency to increase efficiency in the distribution of taypayers’ money such as grants, a minister said on Tuesday.

Labour MP resigns as aide over ‘relocate Israel to US’ post but remains on committee reporting on antisemitismThe Bradford MP Naz Shah has stepped down as the parliamentary private secretary to the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, over antisemitic Facebook posts.In a series of social media posts, Shah said Israel should “relocate to the US” and posted an article that likened Zionism to al-Qaida. Continue reading...

The latest app will attempt to reverse a decline in personal sharing of images and videos, according to reportsFacebook is reportedly building a standalone camera app, which is its fourth such attempt.The app will make it easy for users to jump between still photography, video recording and live video streaming, all presented through a Snapchat-style camera-first view, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Continue reading...

More than 11,000 entrepreneurs, developers and investors meet at Collision for the three-day technology event. Watch interviews and panel discussions hereSports, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, food and music; Collision 2017 has a diverse mix of speakers on day one.Tuesday highlights include Andra Keay of Silicon Valley Robotics talking about the challenges of robot ethics at 9.35am CT (BST -6 hours) and Donisha Prendergast, activist and granddaughter of Bob and Rita Marley, talking about the developing legal cannabis industry (10.30am CT). Continue reading...

The always-on Amazon Echo is developing a personality among early adopters who say they aren’t worried about privacy, and welcome a listening earWhen Steven Arkonovich brought home his Amazon Echo, he knew the little machine’s basic functions: he could ask it to tell him the weather, add something to his shopping cart, or play NPR.The Echo was always on, waiting, listening for his invocation. Say “Alexa” and it lit up blue, ready to answer questions – “Where is the nearest Chinese restaurant?” – or act on orders – ‘Call me an Uber’ – responding in a calm, confident female voice. Continue reading...

Top-end e-reader is a cut above the rest, rethinking the Kindle design and experience, cutting 20% weight and costing a pretty penny in the processAmazon’s latest high-end Kindle breaks with the mould of the basic e-reading experience to become a luxury item in a class of its own.

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

From 16 May, nuisance callers will be banned from concealing their phone numbers. The government says this will spell the end for rogue operatorsAge …Age? Hello sir, and how are you today? Continue reading...

The online retailer’s members’ service is growing, with popular games and films moving behind the velvet ropeAmazon’s push to encourage the whole world to sign up to its Prime members’ service continues: the online retailer has started to make blockbuster movies and games, including Birdman and Grand Theft Auto V, exclusive to Prime members.The walled-off products are an eclectic selection: they include the Playstation 4 editions of Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (but not editions for other consoles), and the Blu-ray edition of Oscar-winning movie Birdman – but not the DVD. Continue reading...

Tired of being tired? Instead of banning electronics from the bedroom, tech can help you get to sleep faster, sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshedOf all our biological imperatives, sleep has probably suffered the most in our technology-fuelled move to an ever-faster pace of life, but it doesn’t have to. Technology can actually help you sleep better.

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

Bandai’s fantasy franchise returns with a third satisfying helping of hack-and-slash heroics, while Star Fox 64’s retro space battles still put up a good fightDark Souls 3PS4, Xbox One, PC, Bandai Namco, cert: 16 Continue reading...

A carbon road bike from one of the world’s most historic brands shows that Raleigh is back on its gameRaleigh is almost 130 years old. But a decade ago, it was on its knees. You’d never have dreamed of buying a Raleigh – unless of course you came across a vintage Chopper. But in 2012 the huge Dutch corporation Accell stepped in and gave the historic brand the breathing space and, more crucially, the funds to refind its mojo. The Raleigh race team was relaunched to spearhead R&D and the fruit of all that labour is now peddling its way to a bike shop near you. The latest generation of frames are award-winning, and this Criterium Race is a perfect example. It’s lightweight carbon and offers the best balance of stiffness and weight available at this level. It’s a super ride – and the satisfaction of being on a great British bike will last long after the burning in your thighs has eased (raleigh.co.uk).Price: £1,500

As a lawsuit against the company was settled, a lawmaker said she would suspend a push for collective bargaining among independent contractors“It is what it is,” said Douglas O’Connor, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Uber that was settled on Thursday, dashing hopes for a very public courtroom debate over employment classification in the gig economy.

Social network went from digital directory for college kids to communications behemoth – and it’s planning for prosperity with its global takeoverIt’s late afternoon on a blustery spring day on the waterfront at San Francisco’s Fort Mason, a former military base that’s now hired out for corporate functions. Vast warehouses, once used to store army supplies, are awash with sleek signs, shimmering lights and endless snacks. Behind them is an Instagram-ready view of Alcatraz island. In front, a fleet of Uber and Lyft cars lines up in the car park, while inside one of the warehouses Scottish synthpop band Chvrches take the stage.For the first few songs there’s only a small group of hardcore vocal fans at the front of the stage, flanked by a subdued mix of backpack-wearing dad types politely bobbing their heads, drinking cocktails out of plastic cups. Continue reading...

The knowledge gap between adults and digital natives can sometimes feel huge. How much do you know about their online lives?

The legal maneuverings in two cases illustrate the challenge Washington faces as it pressures the technology industry to build wiretap-friendly productsThe US government dropped a court case that could have forced Apple to unlock one of its iPhones, the second time it has done so in as many months.The Department of Justice on Friday night told a federal judge in New York that someone had given investigators the passcode to an iPhone linked to a local drug investigation. Continue reading...

Event organizers said discussion intended for ‘male allies’ at online payment company to participate with women on gender issues in the workplacePayPal will host a panel on gender equality next Wednesday to discuss “gender equality and inclusion in the workplace”. The panel will be all male.“Please join us for a discussion with our senior male leaders … about how men and women can partner to achieve a better workplace,” reads a flyer shared online and first highlighted by NBC News. Continue reading...

In the first half of 2015, £2.5bn was spent in the UK using contactless cards. I’ve lost mine, and I’m now living life in the slow laneHere is my problem. I have lost my debit card. This might seem like a minor hindrance. I haven’t, say, lost a limb. But I have lost the means to go about my everyday life as I usually would.I rely on my contactless debit card as if it were a chip in my wrist. (And I don’t have a credit card, because I was always taught never to have credit cards.) Continue reading...

Nearly 20 years ago, Monica Lewinsky found herself at the heart of a political storm. Now she’s turned that dark time into a force for goodOne night in London in 2005, a woman said a surprisingly eerie thing to Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky had moved from New York a few days earlier to take a master’s in social psychology at the London School of Economics. On her first weekend, she went drinking with a woman she thought might become a friend. “But she suddenly said she knew really high-powered people,” Lewinsky says, “and I shouldn’t have come to London because I wasn’t wanted there.”Lewinsky is telling me this story at a table in a quiet corner of a West Hollywood hotel. We had to pay extra for the table to be curtained off. It was my idea. If we hadn’t done it, passersby would probably have stared. Lewinsky would have noticed the stares and would have clammed up a little. “I’m hyper-aware of how other people may be perceiving me,” she says. Continue reading...

Educating children fleeing conflict is all but impossible – but non-profit Aliim thinks the answer may be just an app away

Another algorithm change has been announced by the social network, focused on enhancing reading timeFacebook is changing its algorithm yet again, and this time it wants to show you more things that you’ll actually spend time reading or watching.The social network looks at a wealth of data when deciding which posts you actually see on News Feed, but until now it hasn’t cared too much about what you actually do when you click away from Facebook. It says that’s going to change. Continue reading...

This reimagining of the first game in the classic action adventure series is a fond, respectful and visually beautiful exercise in nostalgiaReleased to coincide with the forthcoming movie, Ratchet & Clank could have been a cash grab – a cynical HD reskin of Insomniac Games’s classic action adventure. It could have been churned out fast to capitalise on all the goodwill and publicity surrounding the film. But it isn’t and it wasn’t. It’s great.

A year on from reporting accounts being hacked, Londoners receive shock bills for ‘phantom rides’ in Mexico and New YorkEarlier this month Angie Bird woke up at her home in London to discover she had been billed for a series of minicab journeys she had allegedly made the previous evening … in the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Aguascalientes, more than 5,500 miles away.While she was having dinner with friends, someone – or more than one person – in Mexico had apparently hacked into her Uber account and “went a bit crazy” ordering cabs at her expense. They made five journeys that were all charged to Bird’s credit card, and ordered a further 11 cabs that evening which, for whatever reason, they didn’t take. Continue reading...

Apple confirms services have been taken offline and says it hopes to make them available again as soon as possibleApple has confirmed its iTunes Movies and iBooks services have become unavailable in China, after reports that authorities had ordered them to be taken offline.

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

One of tech giant’s founders says company under investigation by EU over its tax arrangements should pay the same 50% tax rate as he doesApple should pay more tax, according to Steve Wozniak, the company’s co-founder.Speaking to the BBC, Wozniak expressed discomfort with reports that Apple avoids tax, saying that paying taxes was just “part of life” – something that “every company in the world” should do. Continue reading...

Ride-hailing service will settle a class-action suit with drivers in California and Massachusetts, avoiding a trial that could have reclassified them as employeesUber has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit with its California and Massachusetts drivers for up to $100m, avoiding a jury trial that could have reclassified contractors as employees and was expected to determine the fate of the so-called gig economy.The proposed settlement – which must be approved by a judge – would allow the ride-hail app to continue classifying drivers as independent contractors though it will make some changes to their working conditions. Continue reading...

The hefty price paid for the software that hacked Syed Farook’s iPhone, which Apple refused to help the FBI break into, signals a growing ‘exploit market’The Federal Bureau of Investigation paid about $1.3m for software to hack into the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, FBI director James Comey told a London audience on Thursday.The staggering price illustrates the growth of the so-called “exploit market” for digital spy tools and cyber weapons as governments increasingly use hacker tricks for law enforcement and war. Prices for such software are rarely disclosed, although anything in the seven-figure range is extremely expensive. Continue reading...

Home-sharing company had been in advanced negotiations with the SEIU over a deal that would have promoted unionized housekeepers in short-term rentalsA controversial deal between Airbnb and one of the most powerful unions in the US has fallen apart following an intense backlash from labor and housing activists across the country.The home-sharing company had been in advanced negotiations with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents 2 million US workers, over a deal in which Airbnb would promote unionized housekeepers in its short-term rentals – a move that would have marked the first-ever formal collaboration between a major firm in the “gig economy” and a labor union. Continue reading...

Plaintiffs suing site for failing to adequately secure data, marketing ‘full delete removal’ service that didn’t work, and using fake accounts to lure customersPlaintiffs leading a lawsuit against online dating website Ashley Madison over a security breach that exposed the personal data of customers must publicly identify themselves to proceed with the case, a US judge has ruled.Forty-two plaintiffs, seeking to represent users of the website who had their information compromised, had proceeded anonymously against Ashley Madison’s Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media, the ruling released on 6 April showed. Continue reading...

Twitter was scrabbling to defend the appointment of a Chinese head with government ties, yet US tech has a busy revolving door with its own governmentWhat’s worse for a Silicon Valley executive: ties to the Chinese military or friends in the US Defense Department?Twitter found itself confronting that question this week after it hired Kathy Chen, a former engineer for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to head up ad sales and business development in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Internet freedom activists and Chinese dissidents, who have to skirt Beijing’s digital censors to use Twitter, said it was a betrayal. Continue reading...

The dark underbelly of the internet exploredDespite the fact that it’s just a couple of clicks away, most internet users have no knowledge of the existence of the darknet, the murky world beneath the familiar surface web of Google, Facebook and Twitter.The encrypted cyber-realm is home to drug markets, child sexual abuse networks and professional hit men, as well as libertarians fighting for anonymity and personal liberty on the internet. Continue reading...

Chariot for Women could confront two big concerns for drivers and passengers: safety and harassment – and also offer potential for great conversationIt’s Halloween 2014 and I’m parked outside of bars at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, fifteen minutes after last call waiting for my passenger to find me. A man in a tie-dyed shirt and a curly wig hops into the front passenger seat of my black Honda Fit. He’s dressed as a hippy, he tells me. His friend is still outside, yelling at someone I’m not sure he knows, wearing a white tank top with the word “lifeguard” on the front in black block letters. He’s a lifeguard, I’m told.The hippy is pleased I am neither male nor old. He tells me that his friend’s yelling is OK, nothing I need to be upset about, they are both on the men’s lacrosse team at a local college. The lifeguard is the star player, he says reassuringly. The hippy will remind me of his team-mate’s “number one” status again when, three minutes into the ride, the lifeguard proceeds to scream at a group of women who this time I am sure he does not know. And once more when the lifeguard jumps out of the car to pee outside the door of One Financial Center. “Number one,” the hippy says again, calmly, when I voice my disgust. Continue reading...

Early adopters facing teething issues with doors, sensors, screens, brakes and quality control, as electric SUV continues to roll off the production lineEarly models of Tesla’s electric SUV, the Model X, are facing teething issues, plaguing users with glitches that lock them out of their cars and bang their falcon-wing doors into things.

While social media is a fun place to meet friends, the threat of abuse seems ever present. Miitomo removes it from the equation entirelySocial media has changed the way that we think about friends. It has elasticated the whole notion of relationships. Imagine if an old boss you haven’t seen for six months (and barely ever talked to) asks you out for a drink to catch up: you’d scoff at the thought. But if they wanted to be Facebook friends, a lot of us may feel it would rude to turn them down. Facebook friends, Twitter friends, internet friends, friend friends – all of these signal distinct and varying levels of social engagement. The result is, we have a lot more ‘friends’ than we ever did before, and this has become tricky to manage – especially on Twitter.Perhaps more than any other social media platform, Twitter allows users to build and cultivate social circles with very little delineation between friends, strangers, casual acquaintances and celebrities. Communities interlock and overlap in a very ad-hoc, seamless way. Continue reading...

Significant part of 1,000-strong fleet will have combustion engines removed and be refitted with an electric motor, battery pack and gas turbine generatorNew Zealand’s biggest urban bus company will soon be running its vehicles on electric engines after signing a deal with Wrightspeed, a company founded by Ian Wright, a Kiwi and co-founder of Tesla.

Russian developer known online as ‘Gribodemon’ and ‘Harderman’ gets nine years in US jail, while malware vendor ‘Bx1’ receives 15 years in billion-dollar caseThe Russian creator of a computer program that enabled cybercriminals to infect millions of computers and drain bank accounts in multiple countries has been sentenced to serve nine and half years in a US federal prison.Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, 27, the inventor of SpyEye who went by aliases “Gribodemon” and “Harderman” online, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in January 2014 after reaching a deal with prosecutors. Continue reading...