Technology | The Guardian

Labour’s Tom Watson says George Osborne should set up commission looking at how to benefit from technological advancesGeorge Osborne should establish a royal commission on robots, to examine the impact of new technologies such as driverless vehicles on Britain’s workforce, Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has said.The chancellor is expected to announce a trial of driverless lorries as part of next Wednesday’s budget. Writing for the Guardian, Watson argued that the government should launch an investigation into how to make the most of the benefits of rapid advances in technology, which he believes could be as profound as those unleashed by the industrial revolution. Continue reading...

Korean firm’s latest flagship smartphone comes with two processor variants – Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 – with the UK getting a less powerful version

A wave of apps such as Everest, Cake and SafeBeyond are emerging to help people plan their own mortal passings, right down to Instagram-worthy funeralsA young man is staring straight into the camera. He looks late 20s or early 30s, with a suede blazer and two-toned hipster glasses, and cheerfully waves as he introduces himself. “Hi, my name’s Will,” he tells the YouTube audience. “And I’m dead.”“While my family is a bit upset, they’re not stressed. Because when I was among the land of the living, I made the incredibly smart move of signing up for Everest.” Continue reading...

Troubled warplane that has yet to see any cyber security testing hit with yet another bug affecting flight performance requiring software updateThe much maligned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has yet another problem with its software: the radar stops working requiring the pilot to turn it off and on again.

Reader analytics company finds male readers want an author ‘to get to the point quickly … or they are gone, gone, gone’Men and women are equally likely to finish a book – but men decide much faster than women if they like a story or not, according to analysis of reading habits by Jellybooks.The start-up, which focuses on book discoverability and reader analytics, has tested hundreds of digital titles on hundreds of volunteer readers over the last few months. Working with many of the UK’s major publishers, it uses a piece of JavaScript in the ebooks to look at readers’ habits: when they pick up, complete or abandon a title. The test groups were made up of significantly more female volunteers, with a 20/80 male/female split. Continue reading...

Researchers show they can spoof common smartphone fingerprint sensors using an off-the-shelf printer with special paper and ink used for printing circuitsFingerprint sensors used to secure smartphones can be fooled with something as simple as a inkjet printer, researchers from Michigan State University have shown.

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

Move is part of a campaign to show that Apple has assisted law enforcement in dozens of similar cases, and is thus able to help the FBI gather evidenceThe US government has appealed against a ruling by a New York magistrate who ordered that it cannot force Apple to unlock one of its iPhones as part of a drugs investigation in the city.The move is part of a legal and public relations campaign by the Department of Justice to show that Apple has willingly assisted law enforcement in dozens of similar previous cases, and is therefore technically able to help gather evidence. Apple, claims the DoJ, has only recently begun arguing that it isn’t legally required to do so. Continue reading...

Successful trial at a pilot plant in China using bacteria to convert exhaust emissions to oil will now be tested at a larger scaleTurning the emissions of power stations, steel mills and garbage dumps into liquid fuels has been demonstrated by MIT researchers using engineered microbes.The process has been successfully trialled at a pilot plant in China and a much bigger facility is now planned. Continue reading...

Robert Hannigan says he wants dialogue in a less ‘highly charged atmosphere’ and denies he wants mandatory backdoorsThe director of GCHQ has said it is time for a new relationship between US and British intelligence agencies and tech companies, which have been at odds over encryption.In a speech to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Robert Hannigan called for dialogue in a less “highly charged atmosphere” and disclosed that David Cameron would set out a process in the next few months that “can shed some really useful light. And, for my part, my promise today is to engage in that process with the tech industry openly, respectfully and in good faith”. Continue reading...

Facing criticism for removing default encryption from its latest version of the Fire operating system, Amazon has said it will reinstate encryption this springAmazon has reversed its decision to remove a security feature in its Fire OS software that protects sensitive information stored its tablets, e-readers and other hardware devices.Related: Amazon stops encryption on Fire tablets, leaving data vulnerable to attack Continue reading...

Australian research finds that nearly half of all women report experiencing abuse or harassment online, and 76% of those under 30Harassment of women online is at risk of becoming “an established norm in our digital society”, with women under 30 particularly vulnerable, according to the creators of a new Australian study.Related: Tell us about the first time you were targeted by online abuse Continue reading...

Email’s inventor, Ray Tomlinson, died last week, and though his gift to humanity has proved a mixed blessing, it is not what makes us slaves to the smartphoneIf you ask anyone what the worst part of their job is, they are likely to respond with one word: email. Over the weekend, the inventor of this contemporary curse, Ray Tomlinson, died. Tomlinson came up with the idea while developing the Arpanet – the predecessor of today’s internet – in 1971. He and his colleagues were scratching their heads about what to do with their new invention, wherein one application eventually became email. “Don’t tell anyone!” he told a colleague. “This isn’t what we’re supposed to be working on.”Related: How did email grow from messages between academics to a global epidemic? Continue reading...

Ray Tomlinson, the man who invented the @ sign, has died. Here’s a brief history of email, from the Queen’s first mail to the triumph of spamRay Tomlinson, the man who literally put the “@” in email, died on Saturday, but his invention, which allowed electronic messages to spread across the internet and fill our lives and our inboxes on a daily basis, will live on.Here is a brief look at what Tomlinson started and the evolution of email through the last half-century. Continue reading...

We look back on video game history with rose-tinted nostalgia, but some things tend to get overlooked amid those misty-eyed tales of gaming yoreGamers tend to glorify the past, wistfully recalling when graphics were simple, but the challenge was tough. Get two gaming veterans together and it’s not long before they’re reminiscing about how good Final Fantasy used to be, and how Jet Set Willy was better than Sonic the Hedgehog.Well I was there and let me tell you, it was weird. Here are 12 aspects of ancient gaming history that we tend to forget.

Experts say some Macs may have their files encrypted on Monday if computer has been infectedApple customers were targeted by hackers over the weekend in the first campaign against Macintosh computers using a pernicious type of software known as ransomware, researchers with Palo Alto Networks have revealed.

In honour of Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email who has died aged 74, we want to hear about your most memorable emailsRay Tomlinson, the inventor of email, has died aged 74.

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

Halfway between a stylus and a pen, the Smartpen 3 writes on paper but captures your notes and drawings digitally with added audio tied to your strokesThe pen hasn’t changed much since the successful invention of the ballpoint pen in 1938. We’ve had pressurised containers that work in space, different types of ink and slicker ball designs, but fundamentally it works the same way it always has.

A new version of the app previously described as ‘terrifying’ for allowing reviews of people is launching after months of testingPeeple, the controversial app that lets users review people the way some people review restaurants or tourist attractions, is to launch after a period of beta testing in which its co-founder says it was used for “spreading kindness and accolades”.Peeple, subtitled “where your character is your currency”, was met with almost universal criticism when the concept was first publicised in October last year; the Washington Post called it “the terrifying ‘Yelp for people’”. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to ‘true technology pioneer’ who invented program allowing person-to-person messages to be sent across serversRay Tomlinson, considered to be the godfather of email, has died, according to his employer, Raytheon Company. He was 74.“A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers,” said Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble. Tomlinson worked in Raytheon’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, office. Continue reading...

Tributes flow for the American computer scientist who ‘changed the way the world communicates’Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email and the man who picked the @ symbol for addresses, has died aged 74.“A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers,” Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble said in a statement confirming his death. Continue reading...

Human rights are under threat in the Gloucestershire parish – where it could take half a day to download a filmName: Miserden, Gloucestershire.Age: Old enough to be mentioned in the Domesday Book – which was completed in 1086 – under its former name, Greenhampstead. Continue reading...

Companies like Arjuna are beginning to take action to address pay inequality, but demographic data doesn’t tell the full story of women’s experienceMicrosoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, earned infamy for his declaration that women should not bother to ask for raises. Instead, he suggested in October 2014, they should have faith that the system will reward them appropriately. Refraining from asking for a raise, he added, is actually “good karma”.

David Foster Wallace was right to be concerned: immersive VR headsets could be the ruin of usThere’s a moment in The End of the Tour, a recent film based on the transcripts of a meeting between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and the late American novelist David Foster Wallace, in which the writer likens the act of watching television to masturbation. Both activities, he argues, offer a pleasurable way to spend a few minutes. Both activities may also highlight deeper issues if allowed to become a person’s primary habit. “At least with masturbation some action is being performed,” says Lipsky. “Isn’t that better?”Wallace is unmoved. “Yes, you’re performing muscular movements,” he says. “But what you’re really doing is running a movie, having a fantasy relationship with somebody who is not real, strictly to stimulate a neurological response.” Continue reading...

There’s precious little game to spot in the wilds of Essex, but this new baby ‘Chelsea tractor’ is certainly a class actPrice: £28,250

It’s a smart urban singled-speed from Dublin – with a differenceThe trend for single-speed fixies saw many things stripped from the urban bike that most of us would regard as ‘essentials’. Gears, brakes, mudguards, common sense, all gone and in their place an admittedly cool, clean and stripped-down frame. Now Funked Up (what a truly terrible name), a Dublin-based brand founded in 2010, is putting an end to some of this hipster madness. They are forging a third path that yields great-looking bikes which still have the simple geometry and sharp lines of the fixie, but which also boast niceties such as brakes and even gears.Their Ride Series uses double-butted 4130 CrMo frames, internally routed cables and an 8-speed Shimano Alfine rear hub. They come with Continental Sport Contact II tyres and are available in six colours (funkedupfixies.com). Continue reading...

Public hearings into adequacy of holiday letting, including through websites such as Airbnb and Stayz, begin on Monday in Tweed HeadsShort-term accommodation through Airbnb could be a boon for regional tourism, a New South Wales parliament inquiry has been told.On Monday the NSW Legislative Assembly environment and planning committee will hold its first public hearing into the adequacy of the regulation of short-term holiday letting, including websites such as Airbnb and Stayz, which allow people to lease a spare room or their entire dwelling to short-term guests. Continue reading...

Following two big acquisitions by US tech companies of AI startups based in academia, the capital is emerging as a hub for young scientist-entrepreneursDeep in the heart of Imperial College, London, a computer is learning how to play Pac-Man. Like many humans, it struggles to get the hang of the classic 1980s video game at first. With time though, experience helps it decide which manoeuvres will allow it to evade the clutches of a relentless gang of animated ghosts.This is just one of dozens of artificial intelligence (AI) projects slowly transforming the UK into the global hub for a technology that elicits fascination and fear in equal measure. Continue reading...

On Friday, the News Corp founder signed off the microblogging service, possibly for ever, thus ending his run of making news simply by stating his opinionsAnother bitter blow for Twitter arrived on Friday as media baron Rupert Murdoch bid adieu to the microblogging service – or did he? On 4 March, the day of his wedding to actor-model Jerry Hall, Murdoch signed off thusly:No more tweets for ten days or ever! Feel like the luckiest AND happiest man in world. Continue reading...

It seems there’s no love lost between the Oculus Rift owner and Apple, but all Luckey wants is a Mac with a better graphics cardThe Venn diagram of “die-hard Mac users” and “virtual-reality gaming enthusiasts” presumably has a small crossover.Nonetheless, if you are in the middle section, we have some bad news: Palmer Luckey, the founder of Facebook’s VR subsidiary Oculus, doesn’t think much of your chances of getting high-end VR any time soon. And he’s getting mean about it. Continue reading...

Chief constable Stephen Kavanagh says scale of abuse could overwhelm police, as MPs prepare to introduce bill to update lawThe chief constable leading the fight against digital crime is calling for new legislation to tackle an “unimagined scale of online abuse” that he says is threatening to overwhelm the police service.Stephen Kavanagh, who heads Essex police, argues it is necessary to consolidate and simplify offences committed online to improve the chance of justice for tens of thousands of victims. Continue reading...

Links with no purpose other than adding a user on a different social network are ‘not the way our platform was intended to be used’, says owner, FacebookFacebook doesn’t often give the impression of being scared of anything, but it looks like the social network is a bit concerned about the potential for competition from Snapchat and Telegram.The two social networks have found themselves blacklisted from Facebook’s Instagram service, just weeks after Telegram also reported minor censorship among users of Facebook’s WhatsApp messenger. Continue reading...

The billionaire CTO of the rental website discusses his rigorous work ethic, its effect on his family life and how discovering a corpse won’t stop people using his siteHe’s a billionaire, but Nathan Blecharczyk still likes to host on Airbnb. He has a guest there right now, he says, though the guest doesn’t know who his host is. He is waking in Blecharczyk’s San Francisco home, unaware that the pleasant quarters with separate entrance and electronic locks belong to one of the three co-founders of Airbnb itself. Hopeful visitors, however, will struggle to discover Blecharczyk’s listing. “You’re not going to find me on the website very easily,” he warns. “For obvious reasons, I don’t want people to know where I live.”What, because some stalker might seek him out? Continue reading...

The loud-mouthed investor has won over movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for a new reality series – yet says his tech industry success is down to dumb luckJason Calacanis is having his makeup done backstage at his annual Launch Festival, a huge gathering of entrepreneurs in San Francisco and, claims his website, “the largest startup event in the world”.Calacanis, a battle-scarred veteran of the tech world, is Silicon Valley’s belligerent comedian. Now a wealthy man thanks to his early investment in the ride-hailing firm Uber, he is quick to remind people that his investments are mostly dumb luck. That kind of bawdy, bellicose, self-deprecating persona puts him in stark contrast with most Silicon Valley investors like Paul Graham or Marc Andreessen – two very serious men who recently argued in favor of inequality and British colonialism of India, respectively. Continue reading...

MIT project uses artificial-intelligence algorithm to learn Republican frontrunner’s speech patterns before publishing ‘remarkably Trump-like statements’“OK, it’s amazing right now with Isis, I tell you what? I don’t want them to vote, the worst very social people. I love me.”Donald Trump may be a “really smart person” by his own estimation, but his speeches are now fuelling a really smart Twitter bot, which uses artificial-intelligence technology to copy the Republican frontrunner. Continue reading...

Michael Ramos claims a ‘lying dormant cyber pathogen’ on mass killer Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone still poses a threat. But what the hell is it?A “cyber pathogen” could be “lying dormant” in the iPhone at the centre of the legal battle between Apple and the FBI, ready to unleash havoc on the critical infrastructure of San Bernardino county. Apparently.We’ve never actually heard of a “lying dormant cyber pathogen” before, but if Michael Ramos, San Bernardino’s district attorney, says we should be scared of it, we should be. Right? Continue reading...

US Chamber of Commerce suit is latest in legal battle over whether drivers are independent contractors or employees and what rights they should haveThe US Chamber of Commerce sued the city of Seattle on Thursday over an ordinance that allows drivers of ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft to unionize, saying it violates federal antitrust laws.Seattle last year became the first US city to pass a law giving drivers for companies such as Uber and Lyft, as well as taxis and for-hire drivers, the right to collectively negotiate on pay and working conditions. Continue reading...

Hopes excavation unearths remains predating priory ruins on island famous for St Cuthbert and Lindisfarne GospelsArchaeologists are to launch a search on Holy Island in Northumberland for the monastery where one of the most beautiful books in western Europe, the Lindisfarne Gospels, was made.The quest may puzzle tourists since the romantic priory ruins have been a magnet for artists and photographers for centuries. However the ruins, on an island connected by a causeway accessible only at low tide, date from early in the 12th century. The original monastery was founded by the Irish monk Aidan in 635 and sacked by the Vikings 160 years later. Continue reading...

In a rare step away from increased security around personal data, Amazon confirms its latest operating system will no longer encrypt its customers’ dataAmazon has quietly removed the ability to encrypt data stored on its Fire tablets, streaming media devices and Kindle e-readers with the latest update to the Fire OS operating software.The change, which has been confirmed by Amazon, could make private documents, financial data and other sensitive information vulnerable to attack. Continue reading...

Facing increasing pressure from shareholders, the embattled tech company may try to sell patents, property or other assets, says CFO Ken GoldmanYahoo is exploring the sale of $1bn to $3bn of patents, property and other “non-core assets”, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Now that the security services are allowed to record us through our phones, privacy has become impossible – unless we renounce modern telecomsLegalised hacking in the UK now allows a third party to take control remotely of a phone’s camera or microphone and record video and conversations taking place, the Guardian’s Alan Travis reported this week. What’s the point of Apple trying to encrypt its iPhones if the spooks can switch them on remotely and monitor what we are doing?Until recently, the security services have gone to great lengths not to disclose their operational capabilities. If the bad guys know how their communications can be monitored, they’ll look for other ways of exchanging information. Continue reading...

In a sign of the autonomous security of the future, a $2m contest wants teams to build a system that can exploit rivals’ vulnerabilities while fixing its ownCould you invent an autonomous hacking system that could find and fix vulnerabilities in computer systems before criminals could exploit them, and without any human being involved?That’s the challenge faced by seven teams competing in Darpa’s Cyber Grand Challenge in August. Continue reading...

Breakthrough in next generation of storage batteries could transform the US electrical grid within five to 10 years, says research agency, Arpa-EA US government agency says it has attained the “holy grail” of energy – the next-generation system of battery storage, that has has been hotly pursued by the likes of Bill Gates and Elon Musk.Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Arpa-E) – a branch of the Department of Energy – says it achieved its breakthrough technology in seven years. Continue reading...

Threatening letters sent to the partners of former and current members, as well as themselves, with the demand: ‘pay $2,500 in bitcoin or have your infidelity exposed’It’s been six months since extramarital dating site Ashley Madison was hacked, and now the spouses of former and current users of the site are being targeted by blackmail attempts, as well as the users themselves.Almost as soon as the database was made public, accountholders started receiving anonymous blackmail letters, first electronically and then physically. The letters demanded payment, in the thousands of dollars, to avoid having their membership of the site made public. Continue reading...

Ten years ago, Rab Florence and Ryan Macleod brought humour, pathos and intelligence to video-game television. Now they’re back and as sharp as everShieldinch looks like a typical Glasgow suburb, albeit an upscale one. An art-deco Italian cafe nestles among the attractive tenement houses, with a Subway station and a traditional boozer mere paces away. But today, the streets are eerily deserted, and not just because of the heavy rain – it’s because Shieldinch doesn’t really exist.This is actually the exterior set of BBC Scotland’s soap opera River City, a mini version of Glasgow located in Dumbarton, 20 miles away from the city. While the long-running soap is on a production break, Shieldinch has been invaded by guerrilla film-makers: Robert “Rab” Florence, Ryan Macleod and a three-man camera crew. Wearing garish hats and deliberately radiating the hyperactive energy of children’s TV presenters, Florence and Macleod are capering outside the Oyster Cafe, delivering a piece to camera at a remarkably high volume. Continue reading...

The PCs on Scott’s company network have not been upgraded to Windows 10, and he wonders if they will arrive with Windows Update for BusinessI keep reading about WUB (Windows Update for Business). Will that allow a PC joined to a domain to get the over-the-web upgrade to Windows 10? Scott Continue reading...

Ashton Carter has been courting tech firms in San Francisco, trying to heal the rift between the Pentagon and the industry in the ongoing Apple and FBI clashThe escalating encryption fight between Apple and the FBI has a prominent dissenter inside the government: US defense secretary Ashton Carter.Related: Apple v FBI congressional hearing – as it happened Continue reading...

Diego Dzodan was imprisoned for one night after a judge said he failed to cooperate with a drug trafficking and organized crime investigationA Facebook executive arrested for refusing to give information about the company’s users to law enforcement has been released from jail.Diego Dzodan, Facebook’s most senior representative in Latin America, left a jail in Sao Pãulo on Wednesday after one night in custody on a warrant issued by a judge in the north-eastern state of Sergipe. A judge ruled he was wrongly detained because he was not named personally in the legal proceedings. Continue reading...

From automated DJing with Serato Pyro to audio broadcasting with Anchor, via The Walking Dead, Final Fantasy IX and Kendall & Kylie JennerApple’s iOS continues to be a hotbed of new app ideas and inventive games in 2016, as developers continue to scrap it out for success on the company’s App Store.The last month’s crop of new releases has plenty to offer, from an automatic DJ in your pocket and a news app that you chat to, through to baby-feed tracking and a tool for blind and visually-impaired people. Continue reading...