Technology | The Guardian

Security is finally being taken seriously but the fact that we are increasingly entrusting our lives to self-driving cars creates unease“Car companies are finally realising that what they sell is just a big computer you sit in,” says Kevin Tighe, a senior systems engineer at the security testing firm Bugcrowd.It’s meant to be a reassuring statement: proof that the world’s major vehicle manufacturers are finally coming to terms with their responsibilities to customers, and taking the security of vehicles seriously. Continue reading...

IK prize-winning system matches images from the 24/7 news cycle with centuries-old artworks and presents them onlineSeated against a deep red backdrop, gazing intently at hand-held mirrors, two eunuchs in sparkling saris inspect their appearance before Raksha Bandhan celebrations in the red light district of Mumbai.The photograph from the Reuters news agency is an arresting contemporary scene, but a new Tate Britain project is aiming to inspire deeper reflections with images from its own collection of paintings.

The British YouTube star better known as Stampy has created a hugely popular web channel and educational show, but has no desire to do ‘proper’ TVThe biggest new children’s TV genre of recent years isn’t on broadcast television. It’s people posting videos on YouTube of themselves playing video game Minecraft and racking up billions of views from children around the world. One of those stars is Joseph Garrett, whose YouTube persona is a cat named Stampy. His channel has 7.8 million subscribers and its videos have been viewed 5.3bn times, making him one of the most popular British YouTube stars. Others include Dan Middleton, whose Minecraft-focused the Diamond Minecart channel has 12.2 million subscribers and 8bn views. YouTube’s biggest star so far is also a gamer, Brighton-based Swede Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. His videos are not aimed at children, but he has an audience of 47.5 million YouTube subscribers and 13.2bn views. The popularity of their channels may baffle many parents, but to children these online creators are as influential as pop stars.Still only in his mid-20s, Joseph Garrett has also developed a show called Wonder Quest with Disney-owned Maker Studios. It aims to teach science and maths to children using Minecraft and after 60m views of its first series has just returned for a second season. Continue reading...

Playing a difficult game for the first time can feel like ‘stretching’ your brain, similar to exercising a muscleTravellers stuck in traffic jams this bank holiday weekend, especially with children in tow, may resort to handheld video games when every I Spy answer has been guessed.Luckily, playing video games may actually be very good for the brain - and may even stave off dementia symptoms in later life. This is because if you continue learning to do new things, whether studying a new language, completing sudoku puzzles or working out how to beat a cartoon monster, your brain seems to become better at switching to new ways of doing things and this may slightly delay the onset of some of the more distressing symptoms. Continue reading...

There will be a special salon at the event for viewing increasingly ambitious productions in the new immersive formatVenice, first of the big autumn film festivals, is the most glamorous, attracting big stars to Europe’s most beguiling location. But this year, virtual reality technology could steal the limelight from all the talent posing on the Rialto.The film Jesus VR – The Story of Christ, to be unveiled at the festival on Thursday, marks the biggest investment so far in bringing the immersive world of virtual reality to mainstream cinema. The US-backed film will be 90 minutes long when it is released this Christmas, but 40 minutes are to be previewed in Venice for anyone quick enough to grab a headset. Filmed in 360 degrees, it places its audience as spectators at the nativity, and takes them right through to the resurrection. The film is Venice festival’s way of saying that the future has arrived. Continue reading...

The stories we tell around technology shape our understanding and the future of technology itself but as we grow up as a species we must rethink our positionOne of my favorite technological myths is, like all the best stories, both ancient and urgent. It’s about usurpation and seduction. In Greek mythology, the sculptor Pygmalion falls in love with his own supremely beautiful creation, Galatea. In Ovid’s telling, there’s a happy ending. The goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, takes pity on him and breathes life into the marble. The statue’s lips grow warm under his kiss; they fall in love, marry.

With a top speed of 106 and a slight reluctance to accelerate, even the sports version has a no-worries attitudeSometimes the car isn’t the problem, you’re the problem. No, wait, I’m the problem. First, I was wearing shoes. The three-door Seat Mii feels cheap because it is cheap, and the cabin doesn’t lack elegance but has a thin, clackety acoustic that goes with not spending much.And yet, with the sun out and the windows down, driving barefoot with the radio loud, via the six speakers and boot-mounted sub-woofer (optional, for an extra £185), you could be driving back from a beach in a hire car. Then you’d be thinking, I don’t mind this diddy car with its diddy engine, I like the nippy handling and neat gear changes and wipe-clean plastickyness. I don’t care if I get sand in it. I like the stable, if noisy, ride, it makes me feel like burning a few clicks for a kebab. Continue reading...

Half of online fraud comes from abroad, says Ian Dyson, commissioner of the City of London police, who has enlisted the help of Google and Microsoft to fight it

The City of London’s top policeman says every £1 spent on fighting fraud prevents around £60 of online theftJust how defeatist are our police over online crime? The top fraud crime fighter in the country, City of London Police commissioner Ian Dyson, won’t agree with that, but he certainly talks down the possibility of arrests and convictions. There’s a bluntness to his assessment that won’t, perhaps, go down too well with the Foreign Office. Crooks in Russia and Ukraine are behind much of it, he says, and law enforcement there won’t cooperate with the British.It’s a common saying that you can’t put a policeman on every street corner, and we certainly can’t put one on Kreschatik Street or Old Arbat. But arguably our problem is that we tried to put too many bobbies on the beat, with the vogue for neighbourhood policing skewing resources to threats, such as home burglary and car theft, that have actually been in steep decline. Continue reading...

Regulator will track how the messaging service shares data with its parent company after the announcement of a controversial new policyThe UK’s data privacy regulator said on Friday it would monitor how popular messaging service WhatsApp shares data with parent Facebook under a new privacy policy.The Information Commission’s Office (ICO) said while some users may be concerned by the lack of control provided by the updated privacy policy, others may consider it a positive. Continue reading...

Court records in Oakland reveal cases where a warrant wasn’t required to listen to calls and how much law enforcement uses the devicesCourt documents ordered released by a judge in Oakland, California, have revealed rare insights into how local police and the FBI use a sophisticated surveillance device known as Stingray.

Couriers at demonstration against pay structure say they will campaign at restaurants that use food delivery serviceDrivers for Uber’s food delivery service, UberEats, are planning to picket London restaurants as part of a protest over pay.Dozens of scooter and bicycle couriers descended on an Uber office in Bermondsey on Friday to demonstrate against dwindling pay deals, which they say have left some at risk of earning less than the minimum wage. Continue reading...

Netflix’s British debut The Crown is hot on the heels of Amazon’s first original UK series, fashion drama The CollectionAs the battle between Amazon and Netflix for the next generation of viewers intensifies, both streaming services are adding a new weapon to their arsenal: the creative muscle of the British television industry.Next week, audiences who miss the stylish US hit Mad Men will be able to get their fix from lavish fashion drama The Collection, Amazon’s first original UK series. Netflix will soon follow suit with its own British debut, The Crown, focusing on the life of Elizabeth II. Continue reading...

Singer says when she could not work something out on her computer she called up the Apple co-founder for IT adviceBarbra Streisand has revealed she once called the Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, to ask him for IT advice for her computer.The US singer told Good Morning Britain: “I couldn’t figure out something on my computer and nobody could figure it out, no IT guy, so I said; ‘Can you get Steve Jobs on the phone?’ Continue reading...

Once considered a crass way of showing off, now the sign-off is a nod of acknowledgement that we are doing the best we canIs there a more divisive valediction than the default “Sent From My iPhone” sign-off? When the iPhone first appeared, users were roundly condemned for their thinly veiled humblebrag among the mounting popularity of Apple products.The message was clear: having an iPhone was so much more than having something on which you could make calls and browse the internet. It was a gorgeous trinket and elite lifestyle marker that signalled both sophistication and technological know-how. Membership of the club was something to be boasted about, and you could feel the conceit as users pressed send. The backlash was immediate.

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

Facebook is being accused of backtracking on its pledge not to use the data of the 1 billion users of the WhatsApp messaging app it acquired two years agoStop us if you’ve heard this one: Facebook rolls out a new feature and/or acquires a new company, vowing to protect the privacy of its users’ personal information with its last dying breath. A year or two later, it backtracks and decides it wants spin your data into gold after all – and if users don’t like it, they can delete their accounts.Related: WhatsApp to give users' phone numbers to Facebook for targeted ads Continue reading...

Measures are part of a series of planned European commission changes designed to strengthen rights of creators and publishersNews publishers would have stronger rights to demand payment from digital giants such as Google and Facebook in exchange for using their content, under proposed European rules that are designed to shore up the collapsing revenues of traditional media companies.The measures are part of a series of reforms that the European commission plans to put out to consultation in September. They are designed to strengthen the rights of those who create and invest in original content, from authors and musicians to record labels, broadcasters and publishers. Continue reading...

The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the device with the tap of a fingerA botched attempt to break into the iPhone of an Arab activist using hitherto unknown espionage software has triggered a global upgrade of Apple’s mobile operating system, security researchers said on Thursday.The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the devices. Continue reading...

The subsidies the ride-hailing firm gives its drivers was main reason for losses, finance head said, as leaked figures from investor call revealed huge lossesRide-hailing giant Uber Technologies lost at least $1.27bn before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first six months of 2016, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.The subsidies Uber grants its drivers was the main reason for the loss, finance head Gautam Gupta told investors in a quarterly conference call, Bloomberg said, citing sources. Continue reading...

Chips with Everything presenter Olly Mann travels north to the Scottish capital to investigate what the future of TV looks likeIn this episode of our digital culture podcast, Olly Mann ventures to the 2016 Edinburgh International Television Festival to interview TV industry veterans and new media enthusiasts alike, with this question in mind all the while: “What does the future hold for the television medium?”The TV festival is on through 26 August and you can find more information here. Continue reading...

The federal agency is investigating the cyberattack against the Ghostbusters actor after her personal information and explicit images were leaked onlineThe Department of Homeland Security is investigating the cyberattack against Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones one day after her personal information and explicit images were leaked online.In a short statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said that the Homeland Security investigations unit in New York “has an open investigation into this matter”. Continue reading...

US accused of ‘acting like a tax haven’ for threatening retaliation against Brussels’ anti-trust investigations into Apple, Amazon and StarbucksThe US has been accused of “behaving like a tax haven”, in an escalating war of words between Washington and Brussels over the European commission’s anti-trust cases against Apple, Amazon and Starbucks.On Wednesday, the US Treasury threatened retaliation if Europe continues its tax crusade against American multinationals.

Riders for group’s food delivery service follow Deliveroo couriers in expressing discontent with gig economy pay structureDrivers for Uber’s food delivery service are planning a protest in the latest sign of discontent within the gig economy.UberEats riders will demonstrate outside the group’s London headquarters on Friday after the company cut the amount it pays per delivery, which some drivers say leaves them at risk of earning less than the minimum wage. They are calling on the company to pay the independently backed London living wage of £9.40 an hour. Continue reading...

Porn and video games are replacing Christianity as the common language of American conservativesThese are good: Vladimir Putin. White identity politics. Star Wars. Austrian free market economics. Donald Trump. LOLs. Bitcoin. Darwinism. Silicon Valley. Science and technology. Transhumanism. Pepe the Frog.These are bad: Islam. Feminism. Democracy. Black Lives Matter. The new Ghostbusters movie. Egalitarianism. Political correctness. God. Immigration. Hillary Clinton. Newspapers. Government. Academia. Liberalism. Continue reading...

Messaging service will begin sharing private information with Facebook and is preparing to allow businesses to message usersMobile messaging service WhatsApp will give its parent company Facebook personal information including users’ phone numbers, as part of plans to allow businesses to send messages to users.

Taxi-hailing app tests scheduled rides feature in capital, opening up new front in battle with traditional cab industryUber is stepping up its assault on traditional cab services by allowing customers in London to book in advance for the first time.The taxi-hailing app launched the scheduled rides feature on Thursday, using the capital as a testing ground before rolling the service out to other cities in the UK and Europe. Continue reading...

Microsoft’s Anniversary update causes ‘blue screen of death’ and forced reboot when e-readers are connected, users reportDozens of Microsoft Windows 10 users are reporting that their computers crash when plugging in Amazon Kindles.The issue appears to be caused by the recent Windows 10 Anniversary update. Users of Amazon’s Paperwhite and Voyage attempting to either transfer books or charge their devices via USB are seeing their various Windows 10 laptops and desktops locking up and requiring rebooting. Continue reading...

Company is looking to become first to carry out regular deliveries by drone from late 2016 after conducting trial run in AucklandDomino’s Pizza is planning to become the world’s first company to offer a commercial drone delivery service after conducting a trial run in New Zealand.The pizzamaker carried out a demonstration delivery by drone in Auckland on Thursday, and afterwards said it aimed to launch a regular service in late 2016. Continue reading...

Steve Wozniak criticised company’s rumoured plan to make customers rely on Lightning cable or Bluetooth headphonesSteve Wozniak may have left Apple in 1985 but that hasn’t stopped the company’s co-founder from giving his two cents about the latest releases.Like a worried yet slightly distant father, Wozniak just wants Apple to know that even if he can’t be there for it, he cares and wants to help it avoid messing up. Continue reading...

Marcus has been using local accounts on Windows PCs, but is wary of Windows 10We have two types of user accounts: local and Microsoft accounts. Over the years from Windows XP through Vista, Windows 7 and up to 8.1, I have always used local accounts, where you could easily control the security of your operating system by using a password-protected standard user account. However, to get the real benefits of Windows 10 requires creating a Microsoft account. (Of course, one way to ensure privacy is to create a new outlook.com account and just use it for log in purposes.)From what I understand, Windows 10 automatically generates another super or elevated Administrator account during installation, and this account is hidden by default for security reasons. Unlike the normal Administrator account, this runs all programs with admin rights by default, without that annoying UAC box appearing when you attempt to run a program. What is to stop any malware installing itself on your PC?The appearance of every new version of Microsoft Windows usually creates panic in people who think they’ve found something new, when it’s actually something old. Windows 10’s privacy settings, for example, are more or less identical to the ones in Windows 8. The email-based Microsoft Account logon system was also introduced four years ago, in 2012. Continue reading...

The Pokémon Go craze has brought the unlikeliest of visitors to local libraries – and one London library is making the most of itWith the Pokémon Go app taking the world by storm, public buildings such as ours have found themselves inundated by visitors staring intently at their smartphones. Like many libraries, Redbridge central library in Ilford, north-east London, happens to be a designated PokéStop where participants can revive their Pokémon, collect more balls (used to catch Pokémon), and collect eggs that the characters hatch from.We have acted fast to make the most of our new-found popularity to attract new clientele. We not only advertise our PokéStop status and the number of Pokémon on site, but also run a series of events for families to learn about technology, while playing the game. Continue reading...

The best phablet going is now waterproof, with a brilliant curved screen, better stylus and cracking cameras, wrapped in a narrow, premium bodyThe Galaxy Note 7 is the return to the UK for Samsung’s king of the stylus-equipped phablets, but does anyone really want a stylus anymore?

Nutonomy has begun the world’s first consumer trial of driverless cabs in Singapore - the first self-driving taxis anywhere in the worldWhen Uber announced on 18 August that it would let the public hail self-driving taxis in Pittsburgh before the end of the month, some autonomous vehicle experts could not believe it was happening so soon.In fact the $60bn multinational has just been scooped by Nutonomy, a small MIT spin-out whose electric self-driving cabs have already started picking up real customers in a Singapore business park. Initially, riders will use Nutonomy’s own app to summon hail a Mitsubishi i-Miev or a Renault Zoe, ramping up to a dozen vehicles in the coming months. Continue reading...

Trial allows selected passengers to hail a computer-controlled car on their smartphones, with a backup human driver and co-pilot riding shotgunThe world’s first “self-driving” taxi service has been launched in Singapore – albeit with a human backup driver and co-pilot on board for the time being.Members of the public selected to take part in the trial would be able to hail a free ride through their smartphones, said nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. Continue reading...

Legalist uses a database of legal records to determine the likelihood that a case will succeed, and can fund the suit in exchange for up to 50% of the judgmentPeter Thiel has backed a small legal startup that has developed an algorithm they say will allow a would-be litigant to learn if they are likely to win their case.Legalist, founded by a pair of Harvard undergrads, uses a vast database of local legal records to determine the likelihood that the case will succeed: and if the algorithm says the case can win, Legalist funds the suit in exchange for up to 50% of the judgment. Continue reading...

Action to date by social media companies to remove Isis propaganda and hate speech described as ‘drop in the ocean’Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been accused by MPs of “consciously failing” to combat the use of their sites to promote terrorism and extremism.Related: Twitter suspends 235,000 accounts in six months for promoting terrorism Continue reading...

From Macedonia to the San Francisco Bay, clickbait political sites are cashing in on Trumpmania – and they’re getting a big boost from Facebook

Comedian’s site taken down after hackers took it over and posted photos of her license and passport, along with nude images allegedly from her iCloud accountGhostbusters star Leslie Jones, who has faced widespread online abuse, appears to be the victim of a website hack with explicit images and her personal information posted online.The standup comedian’s site JustLeslie.com was taken down on Wednesday after hackers reportedly took it over and published photos of her driver’s license and a passport, along with nude images that allegedly originated from her iCloud account. Continue reading...

US Treasury says investigations into alleged tax avoidance by US companies including Amazon and Starbucks could create ‘unfortunate precedent’The US has warned the European commission that it will consider retaliating if Brussels goes ahead with plans to demand billions of dollars in unpaid taxes from Apple and other US multinational companies.

My father, Joseph Woodhouse, who has died aged 97, was the chief lighting engineer for Sheffield, a lay preacher and trustee in the Unitarian church, and a lifelong pacifist who was a conscientious objector in the second world war.Joseph was born in Sheffield to Charles, a steel roller, and his wife, Ellen (nee Coole). The Unitarian minister had to persuade Charles to let his son take up a scholarship to Central grammar school against the expectation that he would leave education at 14 to earn a living. Continue reading...

New study points to a ‘digital disconnect’ between children and adults, with only 13% of teens thinking their parents understood the extent of their internet useThe parents of America’s digitally literate teenagers are largely in the dark about their children’s internet activity, new research has shown.The new study on teen internet use by the National Cyber Security Alliance found that only 13% of teens thought their parents understood the extent of their internet use. Continue reading...

Information Commissioner’s Office looks into claims train operator broke data protection rules by releasing images of Labour leaderVirgin Trains faces an investigation by the data protection watchdog over its release of footage of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, looking for seats on its London to Newcastle service.Officials at the Information Commissioner’s Office are making inquiries over whether the train operator, owned by Sir Richard Branson, broke the rules of the Data Protection Act, which governs the release of such data. Continue reading...

Activists ask Mark Zuckerberg in open letter to alter dealings with police after Facebook Live video stream of woman’s confrontation with police was cut offA consortium of activist groups has sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to implement an “anti-censorship policy” at Facebook in its dealings with law enforcement officials in the wake of the death of Baltimore woman Korryn Gaines.Gaines, killed just after her Facebook Live video stream of her confrontation with police officers was turned off, was being served an arrest warrant after failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. She was shot dead by police and her five-year-old son, whom she was holding at the time, was wounded. Continue reading...

Scores of users complain of broken or unresponsive screens, which repair specialists report is down to a widespread flaw in touchscreen chipsApple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus appear to be vulnerable to so-called “touch disease”, a hardware problem that is crippling phones, according to reports from users and third-party repairers.The issue, which has been observed in iPhone 6s since the beginning of the year, seems to affect the touchscreen controller chips, resulting in problems for the high-end smartphones in responding to touch input. Continue reading...

As Tim Berners-Lee has pointed out, nothing important happened online on August 23 1991Did you know? Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the web, according to Facebook! Happy birthday web! Except the web’s dad – who was there when it was born – disagrees.Who on earth made up August 23? #getitright https://t.co/k76dhmjlNF Continue reading...

The much-hyped sci-fi sandbox game proved to be as massive as expected, while Pokémon Go continued to prove inescapableRelated: 'I've never walked my dog so much': readers review Pokémon GoIn a month traditionally reserved for cider and overpriced family holidays, there were two games so massive they were effectively inescapable: one encouraged you to explore your neighbourhood with a smartphone; the other gave you a space ship and let you loose in an entire simulated universe. The first was, of course, Pokémon Go (iOS and Android), a title that’s achieved worldwide ubiquity. Based on the framework of older game Ingress, which also encourages players to visit real world locations, the addition of Pokémon turned a modest sideshow into a global phenomenon. Its fame has grown exponentially, with nostalgic monsters recognisable from youthful summers spent collecting them on Game Boy popping up in Instagram pictures of children, pets and picnics. Continue reading...

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

Education departments too focused on prevention and cyber safety rather than respectful relationships and gender equality, say youth development expertsThe response of education departments around the country to teenagers taking explicit images of themselves and sharing them has been “woefully inadequate”, outdated and overly paternalistic, youth development experts say.It follows confirmation by the Australian federal police last week that it is investigating a website encouraging pupils to upload sexually explicit images of their female, underage peers and involving students from 70 Australian schools. Continue reading...

Australian-Canadian privacy report on 2015 hacking makes recommendations on data protection, which Avid Life Media agrees to adoptThe company that owns the infidelity site Ashley Madison, which suffered a mass privacy breach, has agreed to court-enforceable improvements in handling personal information.A joint Australian and Canadian privacy commissioner investigation into how the details of millions of users were published online by hackers has released a “highly critical” report of the website’s privacy. Continue reading...