Technology | The Guardian

Joao Soares made the comment in response to a critical editorial in the Publico newspaper that claimed his appointment was ‘inexplicable’Portugal’s culture minister resigned on Friday after triggering a social media storm by threatening to give two journalists a “good slap” on his Facebook page.

It looks like the car for someone who wants to be seen driving a Volvo but can’t afford oneThe SsangYong Korando sends out mixed messages, and I don’t mean, “It’s a family car that looks like a sports car”. Large, high-riding and flat-faced, it looks like the car for someone who wants to be seen driving a Volvo but can’t afford one. I don’t understand it, since it’s a kind of symbol without the status, and what exactly does that symbolise?Everything about it, especially its rather compacted SUV-style, shouts “responsible road user”: “I’m bulky but not too bulky, I can tow a boat but would never collide with a bull, I care about my own children and the world’s children.” Yet the fuel consumption feels greater than necessary, and not responsible at all, more in the region of a Lexus or drunk driver. Continue reading...

Content removed after pages and groups emerge discussing everything from handguns to anti-aircraft systemsFacebook has removed pages offering weapons for sale.Revolvers, rifles and submachine guns built or designed in Britain were listed for sale in secret arms-trading groups on the website, according to the Times. Continue reading...

Falcon 9 rocket takes off with a cargo capsule bound for International Space Station before successfully landing on drone barge in fifth attemptSpaceX landed a reusable rocket on a robotic drone on Friday, its fifth attempt and a historic achievement in a budding space race between billionaires to revolutionize spaceflight.Related: Space mission to test billionaire's plan for astronauts to live in a bubble Continue reading...

Twitter has been criticized for lacking diversity and innovation on its board, and new appointments comes as Peter Currie and Peter Chernin plan to exitTwitter has announced that Martha Lane Fox, a former digital champion for the UK government and co-founder of travel website lastminute.com, and PepsiCo’s chief financial officer, Hugh Johnston, are to join its board as part of its latest management shakeup.The appointments, which take effect immediately, came as board members Peter Currie and Peter Chernin decided not to stand for re-election, Twitter said in a regulatory filing. The terms of Currie, the president of a private investment firm, and Chernin, a Hollywood executive, are set to expire at the company’s annual meeting in May. Continue reading...

The latest research into facial recognition technology used by police across the US has found that systems disproportionately target vulnerable minoritiesCameras are used routinely by police across the US to identify citizens, their faces cross-matched against databases of suspects and past criminals.Yet researchers claim there is too little scrutiny of how these tools work, and have found inherent racial bias in the system. So does a sophisticated, visual analysis tool reflect human prejudice and if so, who does that effect? Continue reading...

The US government is pushing a federal court in New York to force Apple to unlock a drug dealer’s device even after the man pleaded guiltyApple and the US Justice Department are headed back to court over a locked iPhone. And once again, both sides are accusing the other of being duplicitous.This time, the US government is pushing a federal court in New York to force Apple to unlock a drug dealer’s device even after the man pleaded guilty. A federal magistrate has previously turned down that request, but the government counters that, in this case, Apple has the technical means to help, and should be compelled to do so. Continue reading...

Since conflict in Syria began in 2011, experiences have been documented by films shot using mobile phones. This innovative festival in Berlin brings them to a global audienceSince 2011, conflict has raged in Syria. And since then, thousands of locals have recorded it on their smartphones. Such firsthand footage has become a powerful expression of freedom against the regime.Tonight marks the opening of the Syria mobile film festival in Berlin, showcasing 11 documentary shorts shot by 12 Syrian film-makers. Continue reading...

Former Top Gear presenter reveals what won’t be in the title of his new series – and asks his Twitter followers for suggestions

Airline launches broadside over fact that eDreams, a travel booking firm, is displayed first on Google searches for RyanairRyanair has launched a new broadside against Google in its battle with other websites selling its flights, accusing the internet firm of profiting at the expense of consumers through misleading adverts and paid-for search results.The airline called on businesses in the UK and Europe to stand up to Google over practices that it claims breach trust, confuse customers and make firms lose out. Continue reading...

Users discover hundreds of ‘filtered’ messages buried behind a series of menus that they didn’t know existedUsers have discovered hundreds of messages locked in a hidden inbox within Facebook’s messaging system.

For Silicon Valley’s successful tech entrepreneurs the world is a playground of creative ways to unwind, and even boost productivityLong hours, high stress and overwhelming pressure to succeed: the work culture of Silicon Valley is notoriously unforgiving, so it’s not surprising that tech entrepreneurs find creative ways to blow off steam in their spare time.Google co-founder Sergey Brin, for example, spends time learning flying trapeze, while former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is an avid beekeeper. From DIY rocketry and zero-gravity flight through to sonic meditation, many tech execs need more than yoga to claim their “me” time, and say it helps them feel more fulfilled, relaxed and productive at work. But it’s also a revealing insight into what makes them tick. Here, in their own words, eight entrepreneurs explain their favorite extracurricular activity. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games – when the Guardian remembers to post it onlineOops. I really am having a stupid week. Continue reading...

We speak to the big winners of the night, Chinese Room, Psyonix and Sam Barlow about the shocks, joys and themes of this year’s eventThere are, perhaps, more important prizes on the games industry calendar. The annual Game Awards held each December in LA draw a huge online audience and can add considerably to a game’s sales figures. But the Baftas have a status and romance that nothing else in this medium can really match.After the ceremony, then, the big winners were understandably ecstatic. The big theme of this year’s event was the domination of independent games. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture by The Chinese Room, Rocket League by Psyonix and Her Story by Sam Barlow, were all low-budget projects that beat major releases such as Witcher 3, Destiny: The Taken King and Fifa 16. It was a night of leftfield success – as a Bafta night probably should be. Continue reading...

With no branches or call centres, all contact is via an app through which customers can talk to a 30-strong service teamYour iPhone can now be your bank branch as a result of a new digital banking service that launched on Tuesday.Based in Durham, Atom Bank has become the first of a number of aspiring digital-only banks to start offering products. It has no branches or vast call centres. All contact is via an app, through which customers are able to talk to a 30-strong service team. Continue reading...

A cast of characters invite players into the world of Overwatch – but even Blizzard will struggle to make esports easygoingBuilding a multiplayer game isn’t cool any more. You know what’s cool? Building an eSport.

Search term brings back mainly results of black women, which some say is evidence of bias. But algorithms may just be reflecting the wider social landscapeRecently, an MBA student named Rosalia discovered something alarming: Googling “unprofessional hairstyles for work” yielded image results mainly of black women with natural hair, while searching for the “professional” ones offered pictures of coiffed, white women. Often the hair styles themselves were not vastly different -- only the hair type and the wearer’s skin.Rosalia’s tweet has since been retweeted thousands of times - more than 6,200 in the first 24 hours, she says - as her discovery sparked discussion on implicit racial biases against black people in the workplace. Can an algorithm itself be racist? Or is it only reflecting the wider social landscape? Continue reading...

More than 7,400 of the shotguns have entered Australia after importer Robert Nioa modified banned weaponMore than 7,440 Adler rapid-fire shotguns have been imported into Australia in the past six months, despite a review now considering claims the gun type seriously undermines post-Port Arthur gun control laws.

Graphics tablet maker’s new paper system tracks your pen strokes on normal A5 paper and outputs it as an image, PDF, text or digital ink, but can’t match competitorsThe Wacom Bamboo Spark is the stylus-maker’s first attempt to make a hybrid paper notepad that records your scribbles and doodles in a digital form.

The Pentagon hails a major advance in robotic warfare which promises to drastically reduce the cost of some naval operationsThe US military has christened an experimental self-driving warship designed to hunt for enemy submarines, a major advance in robotic warfare at the core of America’s strategy to counter Chinese and Russian naval investments.

District attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles sued in 2014, saying Uber falsely claimed its criminal screening of would-be drivers led the industryUber could pay up to $25m (£18m) to settle a lawsuit in California over allegations that the company services aren’t as safe as it claims.The suit is the second this year over the same issue, and Uber has already paid $28m in a class-action claim from riders. Continue reading...

Rocket League, Her Story and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture beat the blockbusters on an interesting night for the games industry

Elon Musk’s SpaceX will attempt to launch a resupply mission to the International Space Station on Friday. It follows hard on the heels of the Cygnus resupply mission a fortnight ago, conducted by another commercial company, Orbital ATK Inc.Nasa retired the Space Shuttle in 2011. Since then, it has been relying on Russian capsules to transport astronauts, and commercial companies to haul freight to the ISS. Yet there is more than just three tonnes of supplies riding in the Dragon capsule atop Friday’s Falcon 9 rocket launch. Continue reading...

27-year-old venture capitalist Dan Sullivan’s BetterBoyfriend.me is a service that sends girlfriends and wives presents like chocolate and tea every monthIn typical bad boyfriend behavior, Dan Sullivan was late to breakfast with the Guardian because he got pulled over on his motorcycle.Sullivan works too much, he says. He misses dinner dates. He forgets to give presents. Continue reading...

Nearly four years after she took over as Yahoo CEO, Marissa Meyer could net a $110m payoff if she is pushed out in a rumored takeoverUS telecoms firm Verizon is reportedly planning to make a first-round bid for Yahoo’s web business next week, Bloomberg has reported, with Googlealso considering bidding for Yahoo’s core business.The potential bid for the huge but troubled web portal comes hours after it was reported that Yahoo has been circulating financial documents to prospective buyers. Tech news site Re/code reported that the documents showed the “financial situation at the Silicon Valley internet giant is becoming increasingly dire”. Continue reading...

As doctors try to connect with young patients who are comfortable sharing their most private photos by text, it’s uncharted, legally treacherous territorySnapchat, Instagram, Facebook and iMessage have revolutionized the world of sharing penis photos – and not just between friends. As doctors try to connect with young, digitally native patients, those same patients are sending pictures of their genitalia to their doctors’ mobile phones.It is uncharted, legally treacherous territory for clinicians, and the leading American medical organizations have not yet issued guidance on what to do with pictures of patients’ genitalia shared over mobile phones. Continue reading...

Director James Comey says US government in discussions over whether to reveal details of purchased hack that only works on 5C and older devicesFederal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey has confirmed that the law enforcement agency’s hack on the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5C will not work on newer iPhones.

Deforestation in Cameroon has increased fourfold from 2006 to 2014, but the spread of cheap smartphones can be used to turn this tideWhen I first visited Cameroon in 2007, mobile networks had just spread outside the cities, beginning a revolution in how remote villages could connect with each other and the wider world. Very few people owned their own phone, but homemade wooden stands renting them out by the minute could be found at almost every road junction. A few years later the micro-entrepreneurs are still there, but they now sell SIM cards and phone credit vouchers, as almost every adult has access to a phone (World Bank figures show Cameroon went from 17 phones per 100 adults in 2006 to 76 in 2014).It is hard to overstate the transformational effect the rapid proliferation of mobile phones has had on rural societies in the developing world. Villages and towns that never received fixed line phones, and are only slowly being connected to electricity grids, now have a cheap means of communication with friends, family and business partners. Further, mobile phones have given the world’s poorest people access to the internet, connecting them to a wealth of information and opportunities unimaginable just a decade ago. Continue reading...

He’s the Indiana Jones of video games and with his fourth and possibly final adventure awaiting, we ask Naughty Dog why this character has proved so popularWe have followed him all over the world, from the coast of Panama to the lost city of Ubar. We’ve swooned at his burgeoning romances, we’ve sighed at his jokey yet loving friendship with Sully. We are, as Dinah Washington once put it, mad about the boy.But why? What is it about Nathan Drake? How do you design a video game character who captures the imagination and emotional investment of players – even while they’re controlling the same character to mercilessly gun down hundreds of baddies? Continue reading...

Duncan Hunter blames bill on purchase from teenage son, followed by unauthorised charges as he tried to undo damageA US congressman has been criticised by the Federal Election Commission for spending $1,300 (£921) of campaign funds on video games.But Duncan Hunter, a Republican representative from Alpine, California, blames the charges on a mistake by his son. Continue reading...

BBC Radio 4 Today presenter may be a late adopter but he’s tried everything from Google Glass to a twike in the name of journalismJohn Humphrys was at the top of his game on the Panama Papers on Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, but for some reason it was another exchange, about acclaimed best selling game Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, that caused a social media followup. Continue reading...

The Shake It Off star makes light of her battle with the iPhone maker and Jason Statham populate an entire town in our review of new advertisingWith 10m views on YouTube in its first four days, this is surely set to become one of the most-watched commercials of the internet era. Taylor Swift – as the culturally attuned among you may recall – had a bit of a beef with Apple about its streaming service a little while ago. Unlike the FBI, when Taylor Swift took on Apple, she won. And now that they’ve kissed and made up, she’s even appearing in adverts for the very service they rowed about.

Virtual reality firm says it isn’t sharing information, such as physical movements of owners, with the social network – yetFacebook’s VR firm, Oculus, is fighting to combat suspicions raised by its privacy policy and terms of service that it will spy on users’ activity and pass information to third parties.The privacy policy warns about “information automatically collected about you when you use our services”, including “information about your physical movements and dimensions when you use a virtual reality headset” which may be used “to send you promotional messages and content and otherwise market to you”. Continue reading...

The Oscar-winner is to co-star with Jason Sudeikis and Josh Gad in the big-screen adaptation of the mobile gameSean Penn has been cast in the forthcoming Angry Birds movie.Related: The Angry Birds movie trailer: the hottest film of 2012 is coming Continue reading...

One of the most common complaints about Windows 10 is that it doesn’t include the usual selection of free Microsoft games such as Solitaire, Minesweeper, FreeCell and Chess Titans. There are several possible solutionsI am missing the free games such as Chess Titans, Solitaire and a few more that Windows 10 doesn’t have. I tried to install Chess Titans from Windows 7 but it won’t let me. Are we likely to get it on 10 in the future? VeronicaThe games have vanished. Where is my Solitaire? Oh, I can go to the Window Store and purchase a souped-up (ie ruined) Solitaire, but that costs money. For Solitaire? Crikey! JimMicrosoft uses games partly for educational purposes: for example, Solitaire taught a generation to use the mouse to drag-and-drop. (There’s an excellent post about this by James Hunt.) With Windows 8 and 10, Microsoft moved the games to the Windows Store. This should have taught users to log on and download them. Continue reading...

Images on Line app referenced royal scandals and rumours in country which has strict laws against insulting monarchyA set of emojis satirising Thailand’s royal family has been removed by the messaging app Line, in a country where discussion of the monarchy is tightly controlled by a draconian royal insult law.Cached web pages of Line’s “sticker store” seen on Thursday showed the cartoon images were available on Tuesday afternoon, but have since been deleted. Continue reading...

‘Morrissey would like to stress that this account has not been sanctioned by him and has no connection to him. Follow it at your peril’Hopes have been dashed for fans who thought that a new and verified Smiths Twitter account might signal the reformation of the Manchester group. Morrissey and later the account itself both confirmed that Tweets from the feed will be sent out by Warners.“A Smiths/Morrissey Google alerts/Twitter account has been opened by Warner UK,” reads a post on True To You, a website that Morrissey frequently uses to communicate with the outside world. “Morrissey would like to stress that this account has not been sanctioned by him and has no connection to him. Follow it at your peril.” Continue reading...

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

‘Platoon’ of wireless-linked trucks arrives in Netherlands port city of Rotterdam, giving a glimpse of the future of road haulageSix convoys of semi-automated “smart” trucks arrived in Rotterdam’s harbour on Wednesday after an experiment its organisers say will revolutionise future road transport on Europe’s busy highways.More than a dozen self-driving trucks made by six of Europe’s largest manufacturers arrived in the port in so-called “truck platoons” around midday, said Eric Jonnaert, president of the umbrella body representing DAF, Daimler, Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo. Continue reading...

Obama administration allegedly would not support bills that would give judges clearer authority to order tech companies to help law enforcement crack dataThe White House is declining to offer public support for long-awaited legislation that would give federal judges clearer authority to order technology companies such as Apple to help law enforcement crack encrypted data, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

Move over, Google Glass: in Samsung’s sci-fi vision of the future, an internet-connected contact lens could overlay search results and discreetly take photosSamsung is exploring the development of a contact lens that can project images directly into the users’ eye, take photographs and connect wirelessly to a smartphone, a patent application has revealed.The South Korean copyright authority has published a 29-page application made by the consumer electronics firm two years ago, reported the technology blog Sammobile, offering a rare insight into a science fiction vision of a future technology that could be closer than we think. Continue reading...

Customers will be able to send currency with messages and emojis using the blockchain technology behind bitcoinAn app that uses the technology behind bitcoin, the digital currency, is launching in the UK with the support of Barclays.The Circle app will allow customers to transfer money with messages and emojis, and make currency transfers between pounds and dollars. Euros will be added later. Continue reading...

Payments to BuzzFeed and others reflects Facebook’s desire to ensure Live has sufficient engaging contentFacebook is paying news publishers and broadcasters, including the New York Times, BuzzFeed and Sky, to provide content on its live video service.Video has become a priority for Facebook and Live is a core part of its push into the area. The payments to newspapers and digital publishers reflect Facebook’s desire to ensure Live has enough content on it to persuade people to use it. Continue reading...

Advertising watchdog dismisses complaint from US electric car maker about UK company’s green energy claimsTesla, the US electric car and battery maker, has lost the latest round of a long-running spat with UK energy company Ecotricity.The company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, had lodged a complaint with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about claims on Ecotricity’s website that it supplies “Britain’s greenest energy” and “greenest electricity”. On Wednesday, the ASA dismissed the complaint - agreeing with Ecotricity that the claims are correct. Continue reading...

How the tech firm’s artificially intelligent Twitter chatbot went from sweet tween to Holocaust denier overnightIt’s the most compelling story out of the tech space so far this year: when AI goes rogue. Microsoft’s blunder has raised a myriad of questions and concerns regarding public-facing AI.Joining Olly Mann to discuss the Tay incident and the future of AI are Guardian’s tech reporter Alex Hern, internet artist Darius Kazemi and comedian Myq Kaplan. Continue reading...

Rising Chinese smartphone manufacturer partners with Leica for new dual-camera phones as it attempts to compete at the top endChinese manufacturer Huawei has unveiled its latest attempt to take on smartphone giants Samsung and Apple, betting on dual cameras and premium design with its new flagship Android phones.

• 120 years since the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens

Kik’s new bot store offers weather, shopping and comedy video tools that plug into your messaging platform. But is it just a gimmick, or genuinely useful?Once, a messenger app did just that – message. But with the rise of artificial intelligence, tech companies are falling over themselves to prove how much more useful and interactive their apps can be – which is why you’re about to see an explosion of “bots”.Kik, the mobile chat application popular with teenagers, launched its Bot Shop on 5 April, and Facebook is poised to launch its own bot store for Facebook Messenger next week. Every brand from Barbie to the Washington Post seems to be working on a chat bot of its own. Continue reading...

The social network’s oversensitive content filters have blocked posts about a forthcoming tour by alternative rock band October DriftFacebook censors have prevented a band from promoting a gig in Scunthorpe. As a result of the four-letter profanity spelt out in the middle of the word, the alternative group, called October Drift, were blocked from posting news about their show in the North Lincolnshire town.The social network does not ban profanity, but it does identify and filter swearwords in boosted posts, the paid-for function that allows users to promote a message to a wider audience who have not already “liked” their page. Continue reading...

Smart home brand, owned by Google’s holding company Alphabet, said it would refund customers on a ‘case by case basis’Nest may offer compensation to owners of a smart home hub that it is remotely disabling in May, according to a statement given to The Verge.The internet of things firm was bought by Google in 2014 and is now owned by Google’s holding company, Alphabet. In March, it announced the decision to shut down the Revolv hub, a smart home device that it had acquired in October 2014. Continue reading...